


Spirit of the Triage

by emily4498



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Drama, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jinchuuriki - Freeform, Medic - Freeform, Tragedy, Uzumaki Clan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2019-06-13 19:32:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 82,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15371757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emily4498/pseuds/emily4498
Summary: I expected to wake up in one of three places: the hospital, heaven, or hell. Imagine my surprise when I found myself slowly spinning on playground swings, seconds before the massacre of Uzushiogakure was to take place. A young Kushina, who is apparently my little sister, stared at me from across the playground.





	1. Part 1

As a kid, I always thought that being a hero would be cool, right? Risking my life, saving the day, the acclaim, and access to whatever the hell I wanted through obsessive fans. I'd settle for being the villain, a smart one, and take the infamy, fear of my name, and the other cool things associated with it, minus the indecent defeat at the hands of a naïve goody-goody. I thought it would be cool, I had fantasies about saving the day, or ruining it, depending on my mood, but it was never serious. I had a habit of chickening out when faced with any serious choices.

" _Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave…_ "

Sure, I was just a little pipsqueak when I read that specific series, but the story has absolutely nothing to do with this, just the words. I was walking along, minding my own business in the hustle and bustle of the big city. I think I was going to get my driver's license renewed, but I might have been filing my taxes, either way it didn't matter. I was minding my own business when I saw a kid getting shaken down by some mugger, barely out of sight of anyone except those directly in front of the alley. It seemed horribly cliché, but I stopped and those words ran through my head. My cell phone was in my hand, but I realized that the cops would take too long to arrive. I could have called them anyways, crime was their problem, not mine, but I knew that would have just been the easy way out. I took a picture of the mugger and stepped into the alley. I wasn't being brave, or even all that stupid. The mugger couldn't have been more than high school age, and the kid was a middle schooler at best, so it wasn't much more than breaking up a schoolyard fight. Little old lady teachers could do it, so I, a full-grown man, could stop it without much of a problem, right?

Since I felt like I was walking on clichés already, I decided to keep hitting it on the nose. "You know, kid, you really should pick on someone your own size."

"Stay out of this old guy!"

That was a bit offensive. I wasn't even thirty yet, for heaven's sake! I grabbed the teen's wrist. "Let the brat go," I ordered.

The teen released the kid, who ran like the hounds of hell nipped at his heels.

I let go and was about to walk away when I heard the distinctive click of a gun behind me. Almost at once, I heard the bang, felt a sharp pain in the back of my skull, which raced through my entire scalp.

My thoughts were along the lines of 'um, really, asshole?' The situation was over and I still get shot for my troubles.

(-_-)

I expected to wake up in one of three places: the hospital (which I was hoping for), heaven (which I wouldn't mind the slightest), or hell (which I sincerely hoped wasn't an option).

Imagine my surprise when I found myself slowly spinning on playground swings watching a handful of orphaned redheads run around a merry-go-round. And my front four teeth missing. I used up quite a bit of my cool when I recognized one of them as Uzumaki Kushina from a manga, Naruto, I read in high school. I had about twenty percent of my cool remaining when the kids started screaming in terror and my swing stopped spinning as I face the opposite direction: the village we were so obviously a part of being attacked by blurs and a heavy mist descending over everything. I knew what was going on. I didn't remember the entire story, but key points stood out to me and I had always been especially interested in the time before the beginning of canon.

An adult ran towards us, picking up a child and attempting to flee, but was cut down, along with the little boy.

I was very happy that what was 'right' and what was 'easy' fit together at that moment. This was not something I could fight and those damn kids didn't deserve to be cut down, nor did an attacking shinobi deserve to have the slaughter of orphans on their conscience. I spun and dashed towards the group of kids faster than I had ever run before, grabbed the first two arms I reached and yanked the terrified children towards the wild trees scarred and gnarled by seawater with Kushina and another boy each dragging another kid behind them. Two more kids caught on and raced after us while the others ran towards the village, calling for the orphanage caretakers. I led the group through the woods and to the docks where someone left boats painted with seals. I don't know how I knew they were there, I just did.

I shoved my two kids into the boat, followed by Kushina and the little girl she grabbed. The last four leaped in of their own accord while I yanked the ropes free from the dock, like any good little boy scout from a port city knew how, threw them into the boat, then shoved it away from the dock. When it was far enough away, I took a running leap off the dock, just as a Kiri shinobi appeared in the tree line. He ran forward and nearly caught my shoe, but I made it to the boat, if barely, with my knees cracking painfully against the side and sure I broke the wrist of the poor kid I landed on. The boat lurched about fifteen yards further into the strait, totaling twenty or so yards away from the deck. I should not have been able to make a five- _yard_  jump, I certainly didn't question it until I was sure I was nice and safe.

The shinobi grinned and stepped out onto the water to follow, throwing a brace of kunai into the boat. Kushina scrambled up to shout, "I am Uzumaki Kushina and you will leave us  _alone_!" She held up her hands in a familiar cross sign while an internal chant of 'get your scrawny, bony knees out of my spine' began in my head. Mist rose and the water swirled angrily around the boat, destroying the footing of the shinobi and dragging him beneath the water where he was dashed against the dock, his neck very obviously broken. Kushina collapsed and I barely managed to roll beneath her so she fell inside the boat instead of overboard. Everything went silent, even the poor girl whose arm I broke.

I, for one, was extremely proud of myself for saving eight kids, all under the age of six, from the massacre of Uzushiogakure, when formerly, only Kushina survived. Until I saw the state we were in.

(-_-)

I know I can never be a true hero and I will never try and lay claim to that title. I was too selfish. If I hadn't felt that there would be future strength in numbers, I would have just fled. Now, since there wasn't any active threat, I could spend a minute or so bemoaning the fact I had red hair that was a bit long for any self-respecting boy and was currently seven, which some niggling thing in the back of my head proudly informed me. Puberty had been bad the first time, with acne and a bit of a fanaticism for stories over playing video games like the 'cool' kids. The story fanaticism never faded. I hadn't been great at sports, overly smart, or hard working so I never stood out, except when less-sociable me was chosen for the brunt of immature jokes. Not that I paid enough attention to the other kids to care. Still, even though my first go-around hadn't been all that bad, I was not looking forward to another.

Even so, from the way six children barely old enough for school were looking at me (Kushina was out for the count and the girl with the broken arm was hunched over in pain and struggling not to make any noise) I had to take the lead. My adult thought process immediately broke down the situation into smaller, manageable tasks. The entire group was injured in some way, many of the injuries could become much more severe if left untreated for much longer, so I tackled that first, careful to keep my voice down.

"Everyone sit with your backs to the edge of the boat, but one at a time and go where I tell you." It was difficult to speak without my front teeth, but I managed. The boat was about the size of a large canoe and I was extremely thankful that orphans were generally undersized as a rule so there was just barely enough room for us to move without capsizing the boat. I directed three kids to press their backs against each side of the boat and dragged the unconscious Kushina into one of the places while commissioning the strongest and oldest-looking boy to help me with the girl with the broken arm. The boy I chose was also the only older kid not injured by the kunai thrown. I felt a bit sick as the blood in the bottom of the canoe was a bit more than just smears. I didn't have a lot of time.

I grabbed one of the kunai embedded in the wood and pulled the ribbon out of a little girl's hair, cut it in half, and tied the kunai around the broken arm as a makeshift brace, then told the girl to hold her arm against her chest, quickly replacing her with another boy who had a kunai through his upper arm and lodged in his rib. The boy commissioned to help me and a second volunteer held the whimpering kid down while I yanked the blade out. They kept the pressure on the wounds while I stripped off my shirt and cut it into strips, swallowing down the bile at being forced to play ER doctor, the whole time chewing on my tongue in the empty space in the front of my mouth. I knew the basics of first aid; I did a brief stint as a lifeguard in high school, but those classes did absolutely nothing for preparing me for taking care of eight redheaded kids stranded on the water that I was certain contained deadly whirlpools that would shake us to death. It took two more volunteered shirts before the wounds were bandaged well enough to stop us from bleeding out. I then stood at the rudder, which I found quite odd for such a small boat, and kept us pointed in the direction towards the mainland, searching for help of any kind, while the others huddled against the sided of the boat.

Somehow, I never needed to say much. It only took a few motions, maybe a word or two to direct the frightened kids around. The attack had started in the morning and by the time everything was sorted out, it was long past noon. I feared the cold that would accompany the night with wind that could kill us without even a blanket to cover. It wasn't a particularly cold day, with the clear skies and sun, but the night could be dangerous. I prayed to whatever god in charge of this universe that someone would chance across us, or that the other side of the strait would appear in sight. Kushina still hadn't woken and I hoped she would have an answer when she did.

(-_-)

It was almost suppertime and I was starting to second-guess my chosen method of death. The shock was beginning to wear off and the younger kids had begun to whimper in pain, fear, and cold while the blood had long since soaked into the wood. I felt sick from exposure to the sun and all of us were dehydrated. The smallest of girls had fallen unconscious. Our short arms couldn't even reach the seawater to pull that in to drink. Thankfully, Kushina was showing signs of waking.

It was nighttime when she finally regained consciousness and the cold had begun to set in. I could feel the first tremors setting into my small, half-clothed body, which didn't have the immunity to the cold my adult body had built up. "Do you have any ideas to get us to safety, Kushina?" I asked once she was alert enough to respond. She picked herself up and stumbled over to me. For the second time, I had to stop her from going overboard on accident. She leaned heavily on me, while I leaned heavily on the aft of the boat, and inspected the seals on the rudder handle.

"This one. Put chakra into that seal, it won't take much, and it will send out a distress signal to any nearby, local, civilian vessels, but it's too late for any of them to get it. That seal there will take you to the nearest mainland port so we can tell someone what happened and get help, but I can't do it, I don't have enough left."

"Um, can anyone else use chakra?" I asked hopefully.

The kids shook their head.

"Alright. We'll start there. Um, what do I have to do?"

It was sitting on the bottom of a blood-stained boat, in the middle of a strait, terrified of freezing to death, with a bunch of kids, my hair itching my face, and taught by a six-year-old Fūinjutsu prodigy that I learned to access chakra and sealed my fate as a shinobi of the new world I found myself in. I figured it was only almost as frightening and hellish as hell itself. On the bright side, I had a good story I could make, rather than just passively absorb the work of others for once.

(-_-)

If the moon followed the same time pattern as the sun (I wasn't sure because I had never needed the sky to tell me the time, nor was I interested), we reached the docks around midnight. Unfortunately for me and Kushina, the only ones of the group brave enough to speak to non-Uzumaki shinobi, it was at the exact same time as the Konoha shinobi and poor us were snatched out of our boat and dragged into an abandoned shack to be interrogated by the leader of the Konoha team sent to aid Uzushiogakure. One of the shinobi I recognized immediately. Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang, though he looked much, much younger than I remembered.

"Here's the deal, kids. I know you're from Uzu and my team and I are headed there now to help your families, but we need as much information as you can remember. Can you tell me anything?"

Everyone immediately looked to me and a few pointed as well.

"My brother Kichiro can tell you better than anyone what happened. He's really smart and strong! He saved us!" Kushina said and the other kids agreed.

The brother part caught me by surprise and I hoped I regained the memories of this Kichiro kid because I most certainly didn't want to be accused of being an infiltrator. Maybe I could arrange a convenient knock on the head and 'forget' everything as soon as the trauma died down. For now, though, I had to do my best to make sure that Hatake Sakumo survived whatever his mission was, but I at least had the tact to not want to tell the shinobi about the attack in front of a group of children.

Sakumo picked up on my uneasiness and led me out of the sheltered shack, carefully wrapping a warm blanket around me so I didn't freeze in the night air. "Tell me everything, kid." I automatically felt my back straighten as we stopped behind a nearby house.

"Except for one or two who might have slipped through the cracks, the entire population is dead," I started out bluntly. There was no reason to mince my words, the man was a shinobi, he could take it. "Um, they used a mist Jutsu to confuse everyone and obscure vision, simultaneously reducing the effectiveness of traps. The village never stood a chance. We escaped because we were at an orphanage near the strait. None of us have any family left to lose. We were all orphaned before the attack."

It was all starting to sink in for real now. I had just saved eight other kids from certain death when I remembered the actual story of this world well enough that only Kushina should have survived. I had  _saved_  eight kids. Those eight kids now owed their lives to me and I was now responsible for them. I knew I couldn't do it. I knew I was going to let them down simply because I could barely take care of myself as an adult. How the hell was seven-year-old me in a world I barely remembered from my childhood supposed to do anything right?

"Hey! Stay with me, Kichiro, I still need you to tell me how you got out."

I shamefully scrubbed at my eyes. "We were on the playground when the mist appeared. I grabbed who I could and ran to the boats. We all jumped in but someone tried to chase us. Kushina, um, killed them with some Jutsu and eventually we made it here. The shinobi had a Kiri forehead protector."

"What did Kushina's jutsu look like?" Sakumo asked, grabbing my arm to stop me from tipping over.

"I-it made a giant, um, whirlpool around us that dashed him against the dock."

"You've done well, Kichiro, don't let anything lead you to think any differently."

"I didn't want to do anything!" I stamped my foot with an immaturity that would have horrified me if I wasn't upset over the responsibility that I had hung about my own neck.

"Kichiro, listen to me," the Hatake ordered and put both hands on my shoulders. "Just because you saved those kids' lives, you're not responsible for them. How old are you? Six? Seven? You're not expected in any way to take care of yourself, much less anyone else, alright?" I looked up at him wishing I was actually a kid and not able to see the way adults use their 'adult power' to force kids into their point of view. "You shouldn't feel that way, kid, alright?"

I couldn't believe it. How the hell could I just change my entire point of view because the man just said so. The Hatake released me and I couldn't help myself. I punched the man in the face. Maybe it was the fact that I was smaller than his leg and he straight-up did not expect me to try anything like that. Or, maybe it was the fact that I had a decent mask for my anger and he was not expecting me to be able to hide them as well as I did. It surprised me as much as him that the strike actually connected and had the strength to snap his head to the side. Given, I had channeled chakra to reinforce my bones and muscles, but I still surprised myself. I didn't miss how he had drawn his tantō and channeled chakra into the blade before he managed to stop himself when I took a step back and cringed. Well, at least I'd have the bragging rights that I punched the White Fang.

He rubbed his jaw, studying me carefully. "You're right, kid. You're not a shinobi yet so I can't ask you to turn off your thoughts and feelings at will. I'll tell you this, though. You're a good person and a leader whether you want to be or not. You're the kind of person I want watching my back because I know you'll do your job whether you want to or not. Who knows, one day you might just be on my team."

I stood there gaping at him. In his own roundabout way, he had offered me a place on his team.

"Now, kid, you may still have all that adrenaline pumping through your body, but that gash on your head looks pretty nasty and I think our dear medic has finished up with your friends."

"They're not my friends," I corrected him. "I don't even know their names. Except for Kushina."

He ignored me and took my hand to lead me back to the others. While we walked, I prodded at the gash in my right temple and noticed that the blood had coated the whole side of my head and down over my shoulder. Well, I guess that could cover the memory loss if need be, considering I didn't even remember hitting my head, which was probably a bad thing. Walking into the little shack they had contained the kids in was a second punch to the gut. Standing up from where she knelt beside the youngest kid to survive, who was nearly five, was Tsunade. I probably shouldn't have been surprised. It was the village of her extended family that had been attacked and she had to have been a damn good medic for her age to be sent to help. Medicine, without a formal, standardized education program in place, had to be a lifelong profession.

I shied away as she turned to me and pressed her palm against the gash on my head. I found it hard to trust someone I knew to be a drunk, at least in the future.

"Oh stop your flinching, kid, I know exactly what I'm doing and I promise not to hurt you." With quick, practiced movements, she ran her hands across the front of my chest and down my arms, stopping to heal the damage to my wrist where I had caught myself in the boat, shaking her head at something while she turned me around and ran a hand down my back then down the sides of both legs, healing the damage to my knees from jerking backwards over the edge of the boat. "Right, kid, I'm surprised you were able to function at all. Your skull had a depression fracture and you had a pretty severe concussion. Don't get too frustrated if you have trouble making your body work like you feel it should be working. Also, I can't tell for certain because I'm not a Yamanaka, but I think you've lost a lot of your memories. If you were older, it wouldn't be as much of a problem, but for now, you have a nearly clean slate. Since I don't know your baseline, I have no idea how severe the damage is and I won't dare try and repair it here without getting a second opinion on the matter. For now, we're going to get all of you to Konoha and make sure you're safe."

"Wait!" Kushina cried out. "Does that mean Nii-san doesn't remember me?"

Tsunade looked at me for the answer.

I shook my head, a bit stunned at the fact I was the brother to a future Jinchuuriki and the lynchpin of the entire story, and she wasn't just messing around, not that I thought she would mess around in a situation like this. Kushina wrapped her arms around me.

"It's alright. I'll tell you everything about you so you don't have to not-remember anymore."

I nodded, slightly freaked out as she squirmed into the blanket beside me.

The adults left and the others began to doze off while Kushina and I sat against the door.

"The boy confirmed that Kiri shinobi were attacking the village and he claims that it's already been ransacked. We can leave someone here to guard the kids and go on, or we can rush back to the village and get a larger force to back us up when searching for survivors." Sakumo laid out while I felt the wall shift slightly as someone leaned against it. Kushina clung to me and I found myself more than a little uncomfortable at the proximity.

"If it is Kiri, we're in no shape to fight. Only Tsunade has a proper Earth affinity." A strange spoke up.

"So we're just abandoning them?" Tsunade demanded.

"There are nine kids in there we're saving, Tsunade. Are you going to risk their lives by getting in over our heads?" A second stranger spoke up.

"She has a point." A third stranger cut in. The voice sent chills down my back. "Those kids may be Uzumaki, their resilience and longevity will be beneficial, but it seems that except for the girl, Kushina, they know almost nothing of their clan heritage, considering they're orphans. Only her and the boy, Kichiro, appear to have any talent for the shinobi arts. Tsunade looked at their chakra networks and none of the others have any notable potential. Despite their general health, the Uzumaki are a mostly-civilian clan to begin with. We have Mito-sama's knowledge, so not all will be lost."

"Both options have equal drawbacks and advantages," Sakumo answered. "You all need to vote, there's nine of you if I remain impartial. Who thinks we should head back with the kids and bring back a stronger force?" There was a long pause. "Five to four, sorry Tsunade, we're heading back. Set up a perimeter around the shack. Tsunade, if the kids need anything, it'll be up to you, the rest of us will take hour-long shifts in pairs, I'll take the two sunrise shifts. We leave as soon as the kids wake up and have eaten."

"No!" Tsunade protested. "We leave now and carry them. They can sleep as we run."

"They only just got off that boat, are you sure?"

"They're just tired and hungry, we can stop to eat in the morning, but the sooner we get back to Konoha, the sooner we can get help to Uzu!"

"Can everyone handle that?"

A chorus of affirmation answered him.

"Right. Tsunade, they're most familiar with you, why don't you bring them out and we'll wrap them in our blankets to keep them from freezing in the wind."

The door opened and I found that annoying thing in the back of my head tightening my arm around Kushina. Tsunade crouched in front of me. "Hey, kiddo, we're going to head back to Konoha as fast as we can so—"

"I heard your discussion."

"You were supposed to be asleep," she reproached.

I shrugged.

"Well, wait here for a minute, alright?"

I nodded and she started to pick up the sleeping kids and carry them to the door, waking them up just enough to meet the person carrying them. She disentangled Kushina from me last and carried her out. I followed her, tightening the blanket around my shoulders and dreading the indignity of being carried for who knows how long.

"Orochimaru, you're last," Sakumo said as Tsunade led me out with Kushina's face buried in the woman's neck.

"I'm not carrying some snot-nosed kid for hours. Carry him yourself, I'll run scout."

Sakumo rolled his eyes and crouched down. "Come on, kid, hop on my back," he told me.

I couldn't do it. I hated being carried my first time as a kid and as an adult I even stayed out of the piggy-back races when messing around after having a bit too much to drink. "I'll walk," I crossed my arms stubbornly.

Sakumo met my gaze for a moment before motioning for the others to move out without us. "We're not going to be walking kid—"

"Then I'll run—"

"If you were a Genin, I would consider it, but you won't be able to keep up with us. We don't have the time to teach you to tree hop, and you don't have the stamina to make it back to Konoha. You need to rest more than anything and I'm not above forcing you to sleep, got it? You can ride on my back and tolerate it, or you can wake up when we reach the village gates."

"Why can't I stay here?"

"You'll freeze kid, even with that blanket, or you'll be either captured or killed."

I ignored that statement. Sakumo crouched down and patted the ground beside him. I remained standing.

"You and I both know that this isn't about being carried. What's the real problem?"

I studied him carefully. I certainly wasn't a hero, but he clearly was. "If I told you, you'd think I was insane."

"Try me."

He was sincere, that much was certain. He genuinely wanted to help and I was significantly tempted to let him, simply because he could.  _If_  I could trust him. "On one condition."

He thought carefully. "What condition?"

"That you don't betray my trust by telling anyone else, no matter the circumstances, or think I'm crazy or evil."

"As a shinobi, I can't make that promise, kid. I'm required to disclose everything to my Hokage, pertinent or not."

"Then leave me here and catch up with your team. I'll be fine, I promise." I knew I couldn't back that up.

"I am extremely capable of forcing you to come."

"But you won't, because you're not that kind of person, Hatake Sakumo."

"How do you know my name?"

I sat down beside him and pulled up my knees, not meeting his gaze.

He sighed. "I will not lie to the Hokage if I'm asked directly, but I will keep you secret and hear what you have to say with an open mind."

"Swear on everything and everyone you care about." That was probably overboard, but I wasn't going to take it back. I couldn't be too careful.

"I swear."

I decided to start with the bad news. "If nothing changes, in the wake of the, um, Third Great Shinobi World War, someone who hasn't been born yet is going to release the Kyuubi on Konoha and devastate the village. Do I have your attention?"

I watched Sakumo carefully out of the corner of my eye. His hand tightened into a fist, but otherwise, he gave no reaction. "That is an entirely plausible scenario, but you have absolutely no way to prove it."

"What if I could?"

"Then I fear the two wars that are looming in the future much more than the attack of a Bijū. I know there is much more to this story. Let's start with the obvious question. Why are you telling me, of all people?"

"Why are you listening?"

"Because I have an obligation to my village."

"I may not know a lot about you, but I respect you more than you know. The impact you make on others, both good and bad, will carry further than you can imagine."

"You seem to have an inflated image of me, kid. I'm not as influential as you seem to think. There's no way for an orphan from Uzu to know who I am."

"It will make more sense in a bit." I paused before deciding to start from the beginning. "I died this morning. There was a kid, probably eleven or twelve getting bullied by a teenager. I broke it up and once the kid was gone, I turned around and the teenager killed me. I was twenty-seven. I died, but it wasn't in this world. When I woke up, I was spinning on the swings in Uzu watching a bunch of orphans. I can't prove it; I just know it's true."

"Say I decide to write you off as hallucinating. What would you do?"

"Just walk away. I would hide in a small, forgotten village and let events play out. It all turns out fine in the end."

"And if I believe you?"

"I'll tell you everything and fight like hell to keep them alive and stop the Fourth Shinobi World War, which is infinitely worse than any war you can imagine."

"Then tell me everything."

I was quite thankful that age wasn't a determining factor of worth to a shinobi. "Well, before I died, there was a story that I haven't read for years…"

I didn't tell him everything, I skipped over a lot of details, like relationships, who had kids, and things like that while avoiding specifics, like who exactly was sent to the Kannabi bridge and who the Yondaime was going to be. It took me less than five minutes.

"You haven't told me much," Sakumo commented.

"I don't remember much and things have already changed, there's no way it can stay the same now."

"Well, I guess we're now going to fight like hell to keep people alive, aren't we?"

"You're not going to tell your Hokage."

"He's your Hokage now too. You'll be a shinobi like me, right?"

"I've been enlisted in the military, but I spent four years in communication. I'm not cut out to fight directly."

"You can do it, I'm sure of it, Kichiro. For now, I think you've been working too hard. You need to rest."

Sakumo laid a hand on my head and the night's ambient light faded.


	2. Chapter 2

A week later, a Chuunin escorted me and Kushina from the tiny apartment we had been given to the Shinobi Academy. The small stipend for food and necessities was barely enough for us to buy a change of clothes and two meals a day. It wouldn't be enough to cover much more but I could stretch it far enough.

"Nii-san?"

I wasn't sure exactly when I started off-and-on thinking of Kushina as my sister but I convinced myself it was when that niggling bubble in the back of my head finally burst a few days before. Most of the time, I was successful in ignoring the real Kichiro jabbering on, but sometimes he annoyed the hell out of me.

_Nii-san?_  He said pointedly.

I ignored them both, stubbornly staring straight ahead at the Chuunin's back

"Nii-san? Are you alright?" Kushina asked. My hands clenched when the mocking came.

_If you don't say something this second, I swear I'll—_

"Nii-san! Listen to me!"

"Um, I'm listening, Kushina, what is it?"

"There's something I really need to tell you."

"Then tell me," I answered simply, putting my arm around her shoulders.

"It's a secret."

"Then whisper it."

"I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Um, okay?"

"Nii-san?"

"What?"

"Look!" She shoved her hand in my face, making me go cross-eyed trying to see what was between her fingers. I grabbed her wrist and held it at a reasonable distance.

"It's a tooth."

"Yeah! I lost it this morning!"

"Cool. Maybe the tooth fairy with visit you."

She gave me an odd look. "Tooth fairy?"

"Yeah."

"What's that?"

"You put the tooth under your pillow at night and then the tooth fairy come, takes it, and leaves a coin behind."

"I've never heard of it."

"If you don't believe in her, she won't come."

"Did she come when you lost your teeth?"

"Yep!" I lied for both me and Kichiro. Small things like the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, and Santa Claus were the small wonders that made a childhood memorable, and happier. If I was stuck taking care of Kushina via Kichiro in my head, I might as well make it a little bit more magical. Besides, kids who didn't get the small wonders never seemed to be very happy.

The Chuunin leading us sent me an odd look, but eventually ignored the conversation.

"You never said anything."

I shrugged.

"You never say much."

I shrugged again and she giggled.

"So she'll come tonight?"

"Sure."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The Chuunin turned to us and stopped outside the doors of a school building. "Here is the Academy. I hope you remember the way because this is the only time you will receive an escort, kids. I can't tell you where your class is, but it's in there somewhere. I look forward to serving alongside you." At that, he was gone. Kushina lifted my arm off her shoulders and threaded her fingers through mine, squeezing tightly. I led the way through the doors, remembering what Sakumo told me the last time I saw him.

_Keep your sister safe, kiddo, and you can start that fight you swore to._

"Uzumaki! Both of you!" Someone called the second we stepped through the doors. "In here!" We were directed into two separate rooms and asked what felt like thousands of innocuous questions before we were reunited and ushered into a classroom a few minutes after the beginning of the class began.

As a real seven-year-old placed in front of a class of my peers, I probably would have been more than a little nervous, but to me, they were just kids, nothing to be afraid of. The teacher quieted the talking with a small bit of killing intent. I pushed the recognition of blatant mental conditioning out of my head and focused on the Chuunin's words before I said something I would regret.

"Alright class, we have two new students. Would you like to introduce yourself and your sister?" He asked me.

I bit back a rude comment about his continuing killing intent while Kushina tugged at my hand. "Please oblige the teacher before I say something I'll regret," I muttered to her so only she could hear. She grinned as I gestured her forward.

"I'm Uzumaki Kushina and my brother and I are going to be the strongest ninja in the village!" She declared loudly.

"Oh really?" A boy in the front row sneered. "Well, you're just a little baby who has to hold her big brother's hand!"

I barely managed to grab her around the waist before her temper led to broken teeth and bloody noses. Thankfully, her temper burned out fast and I managed to drag her to a seat towards the center of the room and sat her down between me and the kid with bright blond hair and blue eyes. He wouldn't pick a fight with Kushina. Hopefully, she wouldn't feel the need to fight with him either.

He bent over his notepad. A moment later he slid a note over to Kushina. She read it, smirked, and passed it on to me.

_=I'm Namikaze Minato. Good job pulling one over on the teacher. So what's your name?_

I slipped the page under the desk as the teacher dropped a folder of loose paper for notes and assignments, a textbook thicker than my thigh, and two pencils in front of us. I took one pencil and scribbled my response in broken hiragana.

_#I'm not a fountain to regurgitate information on command. If you want my name, find it yourself._  I smirked to myself.

I covertly slid the paper to Kushina, who passed it straight to Minato.

When he handed it back, Kushina read the answer and scribbled down her own two cents before sending it back to him. I was curious, but not enough to look over her shoulder. At least the real Kichiro was literate and I had inherited that skill from him, as well as language, or I'd be in some trouble. The note landed by my elbow and I scanned it.

_=Is that a challenge?_

_+You can bet your life it is._ Kushina responded.

_=Accepted._  Minato finished and the note landed under my elbow.

_#Kushina and I didn't make lunches this morning, so we were going to go the next street over and get something from the market. Want to come?_

"Uzumaki the older! Please pay attention!"

"Sir? I was paying attention. You were asking the class to pass yesterday's arithmetic homework to the person on the inside row." I responded as Minato's homework landed in front of me. I held it up as proof I was following directions before collecting the papers handed up to me, put Minato's on top, and handed the stack forward.

"Kindly do not distract your classmates."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Kushina kicked me. I snapped my jaw shut as the mathematics lesson began. It was simple algebra, but something I felt Kushina would need serious help with later, if her confused expression was any indication. Minato seemed to be bored, as if it was already far below his level. Frankly, I didn't give a damn about school, I could pick up the information easily and I doubted the grades mattered in the long run.

Minato scribbled something back and the note landed in my lap.

_=Sounds like fun._

I tucked the note into my pocket and passed the assignment the teacher dropped in front of me down the row.

(-_-)

Lunch with Minato went as well as a lunch with two six-year-olds could go. Both seemed to enjoy the sport of seeing how far they could push the other's buttons. For the most part, I let them antagonize each other over ramen, which both suggested the moment I asked. I wasn't surprised.

What did surprise me was when Sakumo sat down on my other side looking quite worn out and ordered food.

"Hello, Sakumo," I muttered to him out of the corner of my mouth.

He slapped the back of my head.

I snorted and poked at my ramen.

"The tooth fairy?" He asked. "I've never heard of it."

"Probably never would have if you hadn't eavesdropped."

"Why would a fairy pay for a tooth?"

"They make fairy dust out of baby teeth."

"If they wanted fairy dust, why wouldn't they just kill the kids and collect it faster, or just take the teeth to begin with?"

"First, that's sick, second," I glanced at Kushina, but she was in the middle of a wrestling match with Minato, and losing horribly. "It's just a story for kids, it doesn't really have to make sense."

"The real world isn't that pretty."

"Well, the real world sucks. Might as well give the kids some happy memories to carry them through the rest of their shitty lives."

Sakumo shrugged and pressed a coin into my hand. "Sounds like a decent plan."

"Thanks," I tucked it into my pocket.

"I was thinking about what you told me."

"You would have to be an idiot not to." That earned me another smack. I half-wished Kushina saw it so she could tear into the man and I could get some satisfaction out of indirect retaliation.

"You said you would 'fight like hell to keep people alive.'"

"I did."

"I was just making sure. Do you have any plan for the future?"

"I don't want to be a shinobi."

"You don't have a choice, kid."

"I'm not a fighter."

"You're still a kid."

"I won't kill."

"Then you'll be killed."

"Then I will die."

A bowl was placed in front of Sakumo. He started his meal before continuing the conversation. "Do I need to add 'suicidal' to your psych evaluation?"

"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind just as death only leads to more death."

There was another break in the conversation, during which the two kids struggled over a dulled practice kunai.

"Have you ever thought of being a medic?" Sakumo asked suddenly.

"There's a war coming, several wars, and medics are the first targets." I opened my mouth to continue the argument when I considered a potential course of action. "I have an idea but you might not like it."

Sakumo's chopsticks froze halfway to his mouth. "I probably won't kid, but tell me anyways."

"Medics of opposing teams are the first targets in fights, right?"

"Yes, you've said."

"Well, tactically speaking, with less people being healed, there will be less enemies to fight, right?"

"That's generally how it works. Targeting another team's medic decreases the team's chances of returning alive, whether it be from slowing down due to injury, the loss of a teammate, or a combination of the two. Most solo operatives know at least fundamental iryo-ninjutsu."

"What if medics weren't targeted at all?"

"If you think that anything like that could ever happen, kid, you're kidding yourself."

"No, I'm not. For the most part in my world, doctors and nurses serve anyone and everyone who needs help, regardless of race, country, and religion."

"Sorry, kid, but that can't happen here."

"Why not?"

"Hypothetically, say you manage to get everyone to agree with this and all medics are neutral. How would they get to the people they need to help? Would they go with the teams? If so, what happens if the medic's team loses the fight? Their teammates are dead and now, because of their neutrality, they have to tend to the injuries of their opponents. I couldn't do something like that and I'm more open-minded than many shinobi. Now, a number of medics are being forced into this position. How does the opponent's team trust a medic who would naturally want revenge for their fallen comrades? Only the most pacifist iryo-nins would be able to treat an enemy, a majority would not. These medics would begin killing the very people they are supposed to treat. Congratulations, you just turned doctors into assassins."

I stiffened and stared down at my half-eaten meal, appetite gone.

Sakumo ruffled my hair. "You're smart, kid, but you have decades of tradition and conditioning working against you."

"I don't want to fight, I don't want to kill, and I don't want to die," I told him. I tossed the pouch with money at Kushina and walked away.

"What did you say to my brother?" Kushina demanded.

"He just has to come to terms with some things," Sakumo responded before I was out of earshot.

Ten minutes later, I was perched at the top of a tree overlooking a playground and wondering if I could figure out the tree climbing exercise to distract myself from the real problem. The time I was due back at the Academy came and went.

Hours later, Sakumo appeared at the base of the tree. "Your sister is waiting for you."

"She can take care of herself."

"She's six."

"Leave me alone."

"I can't do that, kid."

"Um, let me guess: orders."

"Exactly." With a few jumps, Sakumo sat on the branch below me.

"Go away."

"Talk to me, kid."

"Stop calling me 'kid'."

"Then talk to me."

"I don't want to fight, I don't want to kill, and I don't want to die," I repeated myself. "I don't want to be a shinobi!"

Sakumo stood and leaned against the branch I was sitting on. "You don't have a choice."

"Well, from here it seems extremely easy to just fail out. I'm missing class already."

"You have your sister to take care of."

"She's not my sister, she's just a girl who's going to grow up and die at the hand of some psycho with a grudge."

"You don't mean that."

"I am twenty-seven years old. I never had a sibling, I had a drunk for a mother and a father that was too obsessed with his military career to give a damn. I don't care to gain an obnoxious six-year-old as a little sister, especially if I'm going to be forced to screw up her life like mine was."

"So you'll abandon a little girl that looks up to you instead."

"I didn't choose her."

"You saved those kids, don't deny or downplay it. You saved them and they're your responsibility."

I kicked at Sakumo's face. He caught my ankle. "You told me I wasn't responsible."

"That was before I knew you had an adult's head on your shoulders."

"Asshole."

His hand tightened around my ankle and he jerked me off the branch, dangling me upside down over the ground as if I weighed nothing. I started to struggle and kick at his hand. Sakumo stepped further out on the branch. It bent precariously and I knew it should not have been capable of supporting combined weight. I froze as the ground swayed beneath me.

"Lesson one, land on your feet no matter what."

Shit.

"You sadistic homicidal jackass!" I snarled. Sakumo let go and I plummeted to the ground. I managed to twist in the air just enough to land on my side rather than my head. I rolled off my arm and looked down at it. My shoulder was up by my ear and it was certainly not supposed to be like that. Sakumo stood beside me and dragged me to my feet by my good arm.

I groaned and almost immediately sank to my knees, holding my injured arm tightly to my chest.

"Asshole!" I snarled. Belatedly, I realized that we weren't beside a playground, but in the center of what I guessed was a training field. A bad feeling coiled in my gut. "What the hell—" He backhanded me across the face.

With a violent jerk, Sakumo shoved my arm back into the proper position. He grabbed my jaw and forced me to look him in the eye. "Are you paying attention to me now?"

"I have been paying attention to you!" I snarled back.

"Then you'll have heard me when I told you that you will become a shinobi and it doesn't matter what you want. You will fight, you will kill, and hopefully you won't die. You're obviously not listening to me and you obviously don't have any respect because you don't seem to understand the fact."

I knocked his hand away from my face and clutched at my throbbing shoulder. Sakumo grabbed my injured arm and twisted it. I clawed at his hand and  _screamed_  until he threw me to the ground and kicked the air out of my lungs. I flew a few feet away and rolled to a stop. "Why should I respect a murderer or someone who takes what they want simply because they can‽"

I did not even see him move before Sakumo grabbed the front of my shirt and slammed me into the ground. "You may come from a world where everyone can talk out their problems, but you're not in that perfect universe anymore. The only way you can get what you want is to be stronger, faster, and more ruthless than whoever you face, kid, there's no way around it.  _Fight back_!"

"I won't!" I screamed back in his face.

I probably would have been better if Sakumo lost his temper, or even got the slightest bit angry at me. Then, he would have ended up knocking me out at the very least. Instead, he seemed to have expected my reaction.

I knew he was going to push me until I snapped. I knew it and I knew I could do absolutely nothing to stop it.

"Fight!" Sakumo growled at me, throwing me back to the ground and kicking at my chest,

"I am fighting!" I shouted back, rolling to my feet and retreating. "I won't be you!"

_Fight him! Attack him!_  The real Kichiro ordered. I ignored the kid as Sakumo knocked my breath away with a well-placed punch. I landed on my hands and knees, my head spinning with panic from the lack of oxygen. When I managed to wheeze in a breath, Sakumo kicked me to the side.

His hand closed around my neck and the two of us crashed into the water. I clawed at his hand but we only seemed to sink deeper. I couldn't open my eyes underwater and I was quickly losing the tiny breath I managed before I was submerged. I kicked at where I guessed Sakumo's head was, but he only shoved me against the rocky stream bottom. Sharp rocks dug into my back.

I tried to pull his hand away from my neck, even as I twisted and struggled, but I was getting weaker by the second and my limbs couldn't produce the force I demanded of them. Just when I thought I was about to lose consciousness, I landed back in the grass, I rolled onto my back and sucked in as much air as I could as I wiped the water from my face.

Sakumo dropped to one knee beside me. When I regained some sort of normal breathing, I sat up and turned away from him. "I know what you're trying to do."

"I'm not surprised."

"It's not going to work."

"Maybe."

"Go away."

"Sorry, kid."

I stood up and walked away from him, clutching my stomach and staggering. I barely made it to the tree line before I was forced to stop with a groan of pain.

Sakumo pressed something that crackled like paper against my chest and I didn't even bother to look at what it was. A moment later, something, I figured it was chakra, rushed through my body and soothed some of the pain. When I looked down, I recognized it as a seal, but he pulled it away before I could see anything more.

"I'll meet you here tomorrow at sunrise. Don't be late." He vanished.

I had absolutely no intention of voluntarily seeing Sakumo ever again as I picked myself up from the ground and staggered towards the sounds of the city. Hopefully, I would be able to find my way back to my assigned apartment.

(-_-)

It was nearly midnight before I found the apartment and managed to unlock the door with the key that hung around my neck like dog tags. I tried to be quiet, hoping that I could arrive unnoticed by Kushina. Unfortunately for me, she was waiting at the kitchen table working on something by the light of a flashlight since there wasn't any electric light in the building.

"Nii-san!" She cried and barreled into me the second I closed the door behind me.

I patted her on the head awkwardly.

"I was worried about you! Where were you? Did something happen?"

"Yes something happened," I grunted to her. "Do you think any sane person  _wants_  to come home in the middle of the night?" Perhaps that was a bit harsher than it needed to be. I flopped down heavily on one of the two small mattresses in the general living area and dragged a blanket over my head.

She brushed off my less than kind tone. "Nii-san, I have something you really should know."

"What is it?" I asked, doing my best to feign interest. All I wanted to do was sleep and not wake up until noon the next day. There was no way I was getting up for the Academy in the morning.

"Remember the clan's sealing library in Uzu?"

Kichiro's memories appeared in the forefront of my mind. The so-called library wasn't very impressive, it only held a copy of every single seal the Uzumaki clan produced as well as all the instructions for sealing in general. "Sort-of," I responded.

"Well, the morning of the attack I was playing a prank on everyone."

I had a bad feeling about what was about to come out of the little girl's mouth.

"So I sealed the entire contents of the library in this." She showed me a rather fat scroll I had seen her contemplating several times in the past week. "I was going to give it back as soon as they noticed it was missing, but then the attack came." She sat down on the mattress beside me. "I don't know what to do now."

"Don't tell anyone about it." I answered without hesitation. "Carry it with you at all times and never let any of it out of your reach. Memorize and learn as much of it as you can."

"Shouldn't I tell a ninja or the Hokage about it? It could help them. I heard one of the shinobi complaining that they had now lost all the knowledge of the Uzumaki clan and that it could be very bad."

I sat up and looked her in the eye, not feeling the slightest bit of kindness towards Konoha. "Let me tell you a story. Years ago, one of the founders of this village turned against it. He managed to summon a creature called the Kyuubi against his will to murder the other founder and destroy the village he helped create. To stop the creature's rampage and subsequent anger at being forced to act, the Uzumaki princess, who was married to the founder who did not betray what he built, was forced to use her talent with those seals to seal away the Kyuubi inside of herself. She's still alive, but she's getting old, so eventually the Kyuubi, who didn't have a choice in any of this, is going to be resealed into someone else. Only people of the Uzumaki in conjunction with their seals can safely contain the Kyuubi, the most powerful of his kind, inside of themselves. If you give those seals to the village, they will use them to keep sealing away the Kyuubi and his brethren, sentencing the creatures to confinement and torture and the people they are sealed within to being hated and feared."

"What make you so certain?" She asked. It wasn't a challenge, she obviously believed me and clutched the seals to her chest.

"You remember the story of Uzumaki Mito?" I asked her as the Kichiro kid inside me pushed memories of the orphanage to the forefront of my mind. It was distracting, but at least he volunteered something of use and I didn't have to make an active effort to ignore the kid's annoying commentary.

"Of course! She's a hero!"

"Yeah, well look at the story from the Kyuubi's perspective. Both sides were mean to him because of things he couldn't control. Is she so much of a hero now?"

Kushina's eyes went wide with horror as she shook her head.

"I didn't think so." At the righteous anger filling her expression, I decided to do a tiny bit of damage control. We were stuck in the village after all and I had enough of a conscience not to make it harder on her than it already would be. "Don't tell anyone or let anyone know in any way that you know about any of this. I know you can learn the seals and use them properly, but I don't trust anyone else to. At least not yet. It'll be your secret kunoichi skill, okay?"

She beamed but it quickly faded. "You said only the Uzumaki can hold the Kyuubi inside of them. Mito-sama is getting old and she's going to have to seal it inside one of us orphans because we're the only Uzumaki left!"

Damn, she was smarter than I thought. "Yes, she will," I responded patiently.

"Who is it going to be?" She chewed on her finger and drew her knees to her chest.

I saw no reason to give her a nice, comforting falsehood. "It will be one of us. The other children aren't strong enough, I heard the Tsunade woman say as much."

A second later I had a six-year old girl clinging to my chest and crying.

As I thought about it, I realized I could at least do something to stop a tragic future. "I promise they won't seal the Kyuubi inside of you, okay? I promise. You'll get to determine if you want people scared of you and it will be your actions and decisions that determine whether you're loved or hated by people, not someone else's. I promise."

She smiled slightly. The joys of children and not understanding that someone else would end up with the Kyuubi sealed in their gut. At least I wouldn't let it be me either.

"Ow, Kushina, not so tight!" I gasped as her arms tightened around some of the poorly-healed bruises.

"What happened?" She demanded, concerned and lifting my shirt before I could push her away. "Who did this to you?"

"Sakumo," I spat out the name. "If you see him, avoid him."

"I will," she promised. "I can fix the bruises, if you want."

"How?" I snapped out scathingly.

"I've already started learning stuff from the library when you haven't been looking. I got the idea when I couldn't help the other kids on the boat so I started learning healing seals."

Who would have thought? Little Kushina was a genius at seals.

"I can fix bruises, some broken bones, scrapes, and something called dislocation, but not much more. There were lots of pens and special ink and extra paper in the library when I sealed everything."

That was damn convenient. "Knock yourself out," I told her as she dashed to the table and grabbed a stack of something. Honestly, I half-hoped she would blow me up so I wouldn't have to deal with anything else. Unfortunately, I knew the girl was too good at sealing. "Um, use the seal for dislocation on my shoulder, I'm going to sleep."

"Wait a minute! Take off your shirt first so I can see where to put the seals!"

I did as she asked before turning away.

"You were limping when you came in, let me see."

I bit back an annoyed remark and pulled up my pant leg so she could see the bruise blossoming across the outside of my ankle and then the second bruise covering my knee. I didn't give a rat's fart about what she planned on doing, I just let the exhaustion dragging at my ill-fitting body take over.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment when you're done!

Generally, I found mornings less than pleasant. Waking up before dawn to exchange Kushina's baby tooth for the coin Sakumo gave me quickly ruined it. I flopped back into bed afterwards. When the sun rose, nothing changed that fact. Kushina woke up and made a clumsy breakfast for herself, leaving me lying mostly-asleep on my bed.

I was used to being woken by people making breakfast, in my old apartment, the neighbor's kitchen was on the other side of a rather thin wall and they generally were up before five. My bed was right beside that wall.

This morning wasn't the slightest bit normal or pleasant.

"Nii-san, I'm going to the Academy, are you coming?" Kushina asked softly as she crouched beside my bed.

"No, just go. Don't forget the scroll."

"Are you feeling better?"

"Much better, just sore and exhausted. Now leave."

"Okay." She seemed a bit hurt by my dismissal, but left anyways.

Less than a minute later, a little girl's scream drove a knife into my head. I was out of my bed and pulling on my shirt while running to the door before the girl's lungs ran out of air. Kichiro was informing me in a frantic voice that it was Kushina's scream and urging me to help. On the steps between the second and third floors, Sakumo held Kushina by the arm. She clung to the scroll in one hand.

"Let her go!" I snarled at him. "She has nothing to do with this."

"We agreed to meet at sunrise," he stated.

"You ordered me to, I ignored you," I clarified.

"What could you possibly gain from that?" He asked, smirking. His grip loosened enough for Kushina to jerk away and run up to bury her face in my shoulder.

"Satisfaction," I hissed as him, but tensed as he took a step up.

"And that gets you what?" He took three more steps up. I twisted in Kushina's grip and used chakra to enhance my strength before picking her up, climbing onto the safety rail, and leaping across the street in one motion. I barely managed to land on my feet.

"Run," I growled at her. She didn't even hesitate before bolting towards the Academy.

The streets weren't busy, but there were enough people that someone should have noticed a shinobi stalking towards me with a knife out.

"Genjutsu," I spat out at him as he appeared in front of me. "You're a coward. You're too scared of what people would think if they saw you tormenting a kid."

Sakumo ignored me. "I see you've learned the first lesson: always land on your feet."

Shit.

"Now for lesson two: know when to defy expectations and when to fulfil them."

Shit.

Sakumo's hand closed around my wrist and the next thing I knew we were back at the training ground.

His hands flipped through hand seals and he vanished. It only took me a second to recognize it as a Genjutsu. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to dispel one.

There wasn't a lot that could scare me. I was too good at rationalizing my fear, turning it into something that didn't matter. It didn't help Sakumo any that I did have a not-so-insignificant death wish.

I liked to be contrary, just to be contrary. It didn't help me that I wasn't sure exactly how to be contrary in this instance. Before anything could happen, I closed my eyes and covered my ears so that whatever terrors appeared would have less of an effect.

Obviously, Sakumo wouldn't kill me or seriously injure me, it would completely defeat his purpose. He probably wouldn't drive me insane, which was a small comfort. I thought back to when Kushina taught me to access my chakra. It was surprisingly easy, especially when I compared the feel of my former body to Kichiro's. Someone else's chakra was enveloping mine, especially around my eyes and ears. I made a mental note to figure out exactly how big of a role chakra played in this world. My next problem was whether to break the illusion. The longer I contemplated the problem, the more irritating Sakumo's chakra became. I decided to experiment instead. That had to be decidedly not on the list of expected behaviors. I started with my ears, hoping I didn't make myself deaf in the process. Slowly, I worked visualizing the chakra fueling my hearing into my hands. To my surprise, I was somewhat successful. Sakumo's chakra fueling the auditory Genjutsu shifted onto my hands. At the same time, I lost all sense of sound. Anyone can cover their ears and block out most of the noise, but there's always vibrations that make it through, hell, the thrum of blood beneath the skin makes up most of the noise that drowns out whatever is trying to be blocked out. I slowly pulled my hands away from my ears. The loss of sound quickly equated to a loss of balance, and I tipped sideways.

Thankfully, the weight shifting in my legs allowed me time to catch myself so I didn't fall like a felled tree. My hands couldn't hear anything, so I effectively neutralized that portion of the Genjutsu. I didn't dare try the same with my eyes until I knew I didn't just completely blow out my hearing. I broke, disrupted, and scrambled the threads of Sakumo's chakra around me then released control over my chakra.

To my embarrassment, the rush of chakra back into my head knocked me out.

When I finally regained consciousness, I didn't immediately pick myself up.

"That was a dangerous move, kid. Probably up there with blindfolded Bijū fighting." Sakumo told me.

I sat up and finally opened my eyes. A few feet away, Sakumo sat whittling a stick into what appeared to be a senbon. He was nearly done and the sun was at high noon. My stomach twisted painfully. He tossed me a small bento box and chopsticks.

"I'm not hungry," I responded and shoved it away. My stomach growled painfully.

"Not hungry enough to set aside your pride, anyways. If you're not going to eat it, throw it away. We're done for today. Meet me here tomorrow at sunrise."

I scowled at him, but he didn't even look back as he walked away.

When I felt like he was gone, I tucked the bento under one arm and marched away from the training field. I made it to the Academy just in time for it to end. Kushina was one of the last ones out, with Minato at her side. I waited on a very familiar swing, tapping impatiently

They split off after a quick goodbye and Kushina made a beeline for me.

"Are you okay, Nii-san?" She asked, worried.

"I'm fine. I brought you something." I handed the bento and chopsticks to her.

"Hatake-san didn't beat you up again, did he?"

"No, I'm perfectly healthy now. There's no need for you to worry."

"But I am worried! You're being weird and sad and I don't like it!"

I threw an arm around her shoulders. "You have more interesting things to think about, right, Kushina?"

"Why don't you call me 'Kushina-chan' anymore?"

"Um, I guess I just got hit in the head a little too hard."

"I don't like it when you call me just 'Kushina'."

"I'm, um, sorry." I wasn't. The girl wasn't my sister.

_She's my sister, so you will call her whatever she wants you too._

_Shut up._

Kushina and I started to walk back to our apartment and I ignored the raging of a seven-year-old in my head and the sounds of Kushina shoveling the bento into her mouth. When we got there, I absently made the first microwaveable dish I could lay my hands on while Kushina worked on homework.

"Sensei told Minato that you weren't going to continue in the Academy, is that true?"

"I think so," I answered mutinously.

"Do you want to be a shinobi?"

"No, but I have to."

"Why don't you want to?"

"Because I don't want to kill people."

"But shinobi only kill bad people! They're heroes, you're a hero, why don't you want to be a bigger hero?"

"Shinobi kill whomever they are paid to." I told her as I picked at my food. "And I never wanted to be a hero. Part of the job description is generally, um, martyrdom."

"What's that?"

"It means dying for what you believe in."

"Oh. Well, I'm going to be such a great kunoichi that I won't die."

"You do that. I'm sure you can, but first you have to do your homework."

"You're going to be an awesome shinobi and you're not even going to the Academy or doing homework."

"Because I'm too smart and have to be brainwashed and conditioned to kill instead," I muttered to myself.

"What was that?"

"Um, I already know mostly all of the Academy stuff you're learning."

"Prove it."

"Fine. Finish your homework and you can quiz me. In the meantime, can you unseal the beginner section of our little library for me to read?"

Kushina unsealed the very first primer labelled 'Step One of Becoming the Best Seal Master Ever' and I snorted at the brazen title before opening it.

Three hours later, Kushina finished her homework and started to ask me every single question on it.

To my surprise as much as hers, I managed to get all the answers correct, though I didn't particularly approve of the phrasing of the questions. For example, the very first one for the basic algebra section was:

_It takes two kunai or three shuriken to kill a target. You have sixteen kunai and twenty-four shuriken. How many targets can you kill?_

After the quiz session was over, I turned back to the sealing primer and Kushina latched on to a seal I was sure was supposed to be far beyond her comprehension.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, I tried something different. I woke up a little more than an hour before sunrise and dragged Kushina out of bed. A half hour later, we were perched in the tree outside the Academy, waiting for the place to open. I was bored and struggling to read the hiragana from the huge textbook issued on the first day and enjoying the manipulation present in nearly every sentence. Kushina kept sending me odd looks when I started laughing at how insulting the textbook was to the intelligence of future shinobi. Besides the manipulation, there was no 'underneath the underneath' of the book. Either that or I was just an idiot, which I sincerely doubted.

An hour before the Academy was set to begin, Kushina met Minato at some extra lesson the two had apparently agreed to attend together. I sunk deep into the tree and watched as Minato carefully showed Kushina how to throw a kunai. I wasn't particularly surprised they hit it off so quickly.

When the Academy bell rang, I was feeling a bit smug at having thus far avoided Sakumo for the day. I knew he'd find me eventually, he was a Jōnin, but for now I was enjoying the small victory. Even if I was a bit disturbed by the game we were playing. Bored, I wondered how easy it would be to learn tree walking without moving from my perch in the tree. Mostly, it consisted of me putting my hand or foot against it and yanking until I figured out how to make it stay. About an hour before lunch, I was experimenting with sticking different parts of my body to the tree and mentally scolding myself for playing with power I didn't need.

"I see you've kept yourself busy," Sakumo said from directly above me. I nearly lost my balance in surprise. "Want to guess what today's lesson was?"

Shit.

"Lesson three: how to fight back." Sakumo crouched horizontally on the main part of the tree, beside me.

Shit. He won. We both knew it. I punched the tree in frustration.

"Mind telling me what we've learned these past few days?" Sakumo asked, smiling.

I scowled back. "Lesson one: always land on your feet. Lesson two: um, defying and fulfilling expectations. Lesson three: fight back. Translation: live or survive, think, and act. Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu." I turned away from him.

"Now what was the message I wanted you to get out of it?"

"Hell if I know."

"Kichiro," Sakumo warned.

"Fine. You had to beat me up, terrify a little girl, and make me paranoid as hell to tell me that fighting doesn't equal murder."

"Very good."

"Brutalization, brainwashing, and conditioning."

"What do you mean?"

"In my world, it is a traditional military practice to turn civilians into soldiers. Brutalization is the process that causes them to function with an almost pack mentality, it's generally called basic training. Brainwashing is when they tell them what their job is and that they're going to do it and they're not going to fail. Conditioning is where they're taught to do their job."

"And you thought I was going to follow a tradition I've never heard of."

"Yes. There was a tiny flaw in my conclusion, laugh it up. In my defense, you are following it because it's still psychology."

"I'm not laughing because you're right. But you're too fact and reason oriented to stand by what you think when it doesn't have the most solid foundation."

I grunted an unintelligible response.

"I have something for you, kid."

"Stop calling me 'kid'."

Sakumo sat down on the branch beside me. "Not all shinobi are made to be assassins or to fight in the front lines. There's no shame in it. Some kids see through the brainwashing in the Academy. You did in a heartbeat if watching you read that textbook was any indication. Those that still want to become shinobi are offered apprenticeships. That's what I'm offering you now. Do you accept?"

I thought about it for a long time. "What's my other option?"

Sakumo's face turned impassive in answer. "One way or another, you will become a loyal shinobi and there are ways to ensure it."

I swallowed. "I'll take the apprenticeship, so long as you're the person I'm apprenticed to."

"Not very keen to expand your social circle?"

"Um, I wouldn't mind that, but I'm not going to deal with someone I can't give hell to."

"Fair enough, that's why I brought you these." Sakumo held two sturdy wooden sticks out in front of me. I took them warily, rolling them in my hands.

"What are they?"

"Sticks."

"I can see that."

Sakumo laughed. "You don't want to kill so I found a way that you don't have to. A few strong hits with a sturdy stick can be just as effective as a blade."

"And much less deadly."

"Exactly. You don't have to worry about coming home from missions smelling like blood every time." Sakumo placed a thick book in my lap. "Mentally, you're not built for hurting other people, kid. I'm sure you're perfectly capable, but just because I've convinced you now that learning to fight isn't inherently bad, it doesn't mean you'll remain convinced forever. I won't recommend you to work in the hospital every day, I don't think you have the patience for it. You'd make a great battlefield medic, kid, it's a role I know you'll like."

The ends of the sticks had straps tied to them, so I slipped them around my wrist and held up the book. It had basically everything I needed to begin learning the theory behind medical Ninjutsu, as well as how to learn it practically as well.

He tapped the book. "You'll be learning this on your own time, kid, but I'll let you practice occasionally when you're training with me. Now, will you meet me at the training ground for real tomorrow?" He asked.

"At sunrise," I confirmed. "But I'm going to be a few minutes late. It's the principle of the thing."

He swung down from the tree. "You'll go far, kid, once you learn to keep that tongue in your head where it belongs."

"Um, I'm not looking to go far."

"Yet that's what drives you forward."

(-_-)

That night, Kushina decided that it helped her learn and keep up with Minato in the Academy if she taught me everything she learned that day. Most of it never surpassed my high school level of knowledge, but I paid attention to her history and Ninjutsu lessons for obvious reasons. She also decided to recite to me everything she had learned from our personal Uzumaki Library that day.

Don't get me wrong, I found seals to be extremely interesting, but unlike Kushina, I didn't have any innate genius to help me learn. She began healing with only a week of study, but learning sealing was like learning to read music or write in another alphabet. I knew how to learn it; I had taken music lessons and Latin in high school and I took two semesters of Mandarin while in the military. It wouldn't take me too long to learn the language of sealing, but I knew I'd never be very good in comparison to Kushina. Medical Ninjutsu, however, would be almost entirely hands-on, which I could do. Sure, I had to memorize hundreds of bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments, know exactly how the muscles and joints worked together, and know exactly how the heart worked as well as every other organ and system, but most of that I had already learned in high school anatomy and physiology, so it wasn't particularly bothered by the refresher. It helped that Kichiro was extremely interested in it as well and we could fill in where the other may have forgotten.

There was an entire section on how the brain worked, which Kichiro seemed especially interested in. I was as well, but in comparison to what I learned in high school, the current level of knowledge about the working of the brain was quite sparse, which frustrated us both.

In the morning, Kichiro woke me up a half hour before sunrise. I ate breakfast and, on Kichiro's behalf, woke Kushina to tell her she didn't have to avoid Sakumo and that she had to be up soon for the Academy.

I made it to the training ground five minutes after sunrise. Through the center of the training ground was a rope tied between two trees. I froze when I saw it.

"You're learning balance first."

"By practicing my, um, slacklining skills?"

"Slacklining?"

"It's an odd sport from my world. Um, basically you do tricks on a stretchy tightrope."

"And you can do this?"

"I could, but now I'm about half my size with a quarter of my strength."

Sakumo gestured towards the line.

"You first. I want to see your tricks, old man."

He snorted.

"Um, you're the one with white hair."

"You're going to regret that."

"Am I?"

"I'm the one with nearly two decades of shinobi experience."

"Right, can I take the old man comment back?"

"We'll see. Come here."

Sakumo tossed all his live weapons in a pile just out of falling distance of the rope and leapt on. The rope sunk about a foot under his weight.

"We're not starting katas just yet. It's much easier to get a lucky with a blade, major veins and arteries are never far beneath the surface of the skin. With sticks, you have to always assume you're at the disadvantage because they won't bleed your opponent dry before you. Right now, you're still a kid, that means you can't rely on your reach or strength to win you anything. You have to be faster, stronger, and more skilled than your opponent. All of that begins with your balance."

I nodded once and stepped up onto the rope. Sakumo grasped my forearm to steady me as he jumped down.

"The line is loose enough to allow you to move freely, but not so loose that losing your balance is dangerous, for now. Move around, jump a little, get a feel for where your center of gravity is."

I did just that. I started by walking a few steps in both directions. After a second of contemplation, I jumped down and stripped off my civilian shoes. I leapt back on and as I started to get a feel for the rope, I jumped to test my strength and balance. Carefully, Sakumo watched. From the way he jerked at my more sudden movements, he was probably worried I was going to hurt myself when Kichiro's body failed in way my old body wouldn't. He tensed as I jumped almost three feet in the air and landed with the rope diagonally across my back. I intended to let the tension in the rope drive me upright like a trampoline, but Kichiro didn't have my sense of balance and I tumbled off the rope and into the grass.

Sakumo crouched to help me up. "It's been a while since I've seen somebody fall like that on purpose. Can you refocus on the task at hand, please?"

"Just the one trick, then I'll focus," I promised.

He sighed, but gestured for me to try again. This time, I managed to land on my feet, even if I missed the rope.

Sakumo grasped my forearm as we both jumped back onto the rope. When we regained our balance, he released me. From nowhere, Sakumo produced an old, worn bokken. He held it perpendicular to the line we stood on.

"Your balance may not matter as much when you're attacked head on." He shoved me backwards for emphasis and I barely managed to avoid falling off. "But when I attack you from another direction your weight and size work against you." He swung the bokken at my shoulder and all but threw me off the line. I tumbled head over heels and stopped flat on my face. I felt one of my teeth loosen at the impact.

"You could have just said so! You didn't have to throw me off!" I protested, then spat blood.

"True, but this way you'll remember it and hopefully I'm discouraging stupid stunts before they're attempted."

"Or maybe just, um,  _encouraging_  them." I muttered under my breath.

"I heard that."

"Stupid shinobi with stupid crazy-good hearing." That comment earned me a slap on the back of my head. I wasn't sure exactly how Sakumo managed it from five feet away, but I decided not to question it as I stepped back onto the rope while he jumped off and made two shadow clones.

The rest of the day was spent catching and returning water balloons without breaking them, knocking aside rubber balls and dodging shotput. There seemed to be no telling the difference, until I realized that Sakumo threw them with different strengths and I had to watch him, not the evil little spheres of trickery. Suffice to say, I wasn't happy when I thought the nice, innocent rubber ball turned out to be a solid metal shotput that nearly broke my arm. For the first few hours, I felt like it was just luck of the draw, though I was forced into several fancy maneuvers to avoid the shotput. At around noon, Sakumo dispersed the clones and held out a bento for me.

I thought the after-lunch exercise was straightforward: climb a tree without your feet. With my old body, I could probably do it just fine, even without chakra. With Kichiro's, it was much more difficult. For extremely short periods at a time, I could use chakra to strengthen my muscles and attach myself to the tree, but it never lasted long. I spent more time falling than climbing over the next hour. About a quarter of the time I landed on my feet and before my chakra levels dropped to dangerous levels, Sakumo told me to buzz off and do my own thing that didn't use chakra. Kushina and I repeated our routine from the night before.


	5. Chapter 5

Sakumo and I didn't take much longer to fall into a routine. Five days a week, a few minutes after sunrise, we would meet on the training ground. For the first few weeks, the first three hours of the day alternated between several different exercises to help with balance and core strength. The ones involving what he called 'rope-walking' and I insisted was 'slacklining' were my favorite, simply because it reminded me of the days with some of my friends in the Army when we would mess around and show off on the weekends. Also, the fact that Sakumo and I had a similar sense of humor often made me forget exactly what I was training to do. The next few hours focused almost entirely on building speed, reflexes, and flexibility. After lunch, I worked on chakra control.

On days he wasn't training me, I guessed that Sakumo took missions, but no matter how innocently or covertly I asked, I couldn't confirm the thought. I wasn't curious enough to stalk him just yet, but occasionally I would catch a glimpse of a bandage under his collar or beneath his gloves, and if I paid attention, I would notice the occasional stiff movements. Either way, while Sakumo was on missions, I spent the days practicing medical Ninjutsu or studying Fūinjutsu. Tsunade had set up a section of the hospital for medics-in-training to work under the supervision of a retired medic-nin.

I was very obviously the youngest person there. Most medics didn't begin training until they were at least Chuunin, simply because few Genin or Academy students had both the chakra capacity and the control necessary to be a medic in the first place. Since I was an Uzumaki, I had the chakra I needed and the daily practice improved my control by leaps and bounds. I was also the only boy, which surprised me. In fact, I found a total of three male doctors in the entire village. They were all civilians.

By the end of the first six months of this routine, I found I had learned nothing about Sakumo's life. Sure, I figured I knew his personality quite well, but I had no idea who his friends were, what his hobbies were (besides training me), or what kind of food he liked. At the same time, he added katas from several styles of stick fighting he planned on teaching me, how to throw kunai, shuriken, and senbon, turn practically anything into a defensive weapon into the training regime, as well as other shinobi skills such as detecting and dispelling Genjutsu (which he was liable to hit me with at any point in the day), making and avoiding traps (which were set up all over the training ground), surveillance, the basics of infiltration, and survival. Before, I had time to make dinner with Kushina (occasionally with Minato as well) and listen to her lectures of what she learned in the Academy. After the rest was added to my training, she spent the afternoon with the blond and several others training, we ate take-out four days a week, and stayed up until midnight while Kushina finished her nightly review and I studied sealing by the light of the flashlight dangling from a hole we made in the ceiling. We both worked on memorizing as much of our clan's history and legal procedures and worked to keep alive as much of the clan as possible, even if it was only the skeleton of its former glory.

By the end of my first year in Konoha, Sakumo still hadn't taught me any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, besides giving me ideas of which medical jutsu to learn next, and hadn't even started teaching me to apply what I knew about Taijutsu in an actual fight.

As far as I could tell, Kushina's first year in Konoha went great. Her friendship with Minato, the class genius, had deterred most of the bullying I remembered she had to deal with in canon, and she had taken to pulling the 'big brother' card whenever she didn't feel like dealing with it herself. The entire Academy knew that Uzumaki Kushina's older brother was an apprentice to the reasonably well-known Jōnin, Hatake Sakumo, and that deterred the rest of the bullies. The fact that Kushina was the second-best in the class helped as well, though it made her a social pariah to the other girls because their crush, Minato, paid more attention to her than the rest of them, who specifically tried to get his attention and Kushina, the foreign girl who popped out of nowhere, had his attention from the moment she stepped into the room with tangled hair, ragged clothes, and a missing tooth, intent on beating up whomever irked her.

I, on the other hand, had my own problems to worry about. I was never a very social person. I tended to make a small circle of friends and rarely ventured outside of the social sphere. I didn't have the patience for mindless conversation, which made my time working in the training section of the hospital as tedious as it was interesting and useful. The fact I was working with girls didn't bother me as much as the fact that most of them saw me as little more than a cute wannabe medic boy there for them to hug whenever they were in a ridiculously good mood, or order about on gofer work when they were in a bad mood. I lost my temper several times when their bad mood coincided with mine and it turned into a rather impressive shouting match between me and several girls at once.

Intellectually, I was just as good as them. My chakra reserves were a bit smaller and my control a fair bit below theirs, but still passable. I could do my job just as well as them, even better than them when it was put in the context of my 'age' and how long I'd spent practicing. It grated on my nerves when they ignored that bit in favor of the tiny detail that I wasn't even a shinobi yet. Fortunately, the supervisor let me tell them off, then separated us before the girls could have their say. The only reason I got away with telling them off was because the shinobi patients found it amusing and fewer people skipped out of treatment when I was there, hoping to see something degenerate into a fight.

It gave me immense satisfaction when I managed to graduate the program in half the time, before many of the girls who had begun before me.

At that point, Sakumo approached me about becoming a shinobi and joining a Genin team. I was tempted, the routine that we had settled into was a bit boring, but in the end, I realized that the closest I had ever come to a physical fight in this world was when I leapt into the boat to get away from the Kiri Shinobi attacking Uzushiogakure, and I knew I wasn't anywhere near ready. Shortly after that, Sakumo started to teach me how to apply the hundreds of kata I had learned with the sticks, my fists, and Sakumo's bokken.

When I could defend against him paying just enough attention to not put me in the hospital, he started to arrange for me to spar once or twice a week with the Academy class set to graduate that year. After a few false starts and a little bit of ridicule while I got over my aversion to soundly beating little kids, I was easily the best in the class, even though they were all a year older than me.

Over the next year, Kushina lost five teeth and my front four teeth grew in while the next four had come out. I remembered losing my baby teeth the first time and I had no desire to undergo it a second time. Honestly, the second time was much worse. The gaps in my teeth annoyed me just as much as actually having a loose tooth. I suffered through one of them wiggling for a week straight. The next one that got loose was yanked out the second it was no longer useful for chewing. That incident taught me that it was better to let my gums heal themselves than try and heal them with iryo-ninjutsu. I ripped the tooth out one of the days Tsunade was assessing me and she laughed herself to tears when I started snarling at my bleeding mouth and how iryo-ninjutsu sucked at dentistry.

Shortly after Kichiro's ninth birthday and a week after I solidified my position as a better fighter than any of the squirts, Suna declared war on Konoha for 'financial reasons'. Kumo followed suit by declaring war on Kiri. Kiri offered an alliance with Konoha, who rejected it because of what happened in Uzu. Iwa declared war on Konoha and Kumo at the same time Suna declared war on Iwa while making an alliance with Kiri, who declared war on Konoha shortly after. I had no idea why everything exploded at once but I knew things were about to get bad fast.

Three weeks later, any Academy student fit enough to run messages and smart enough to hold their own in a fight was rushed through to graduation. That included Minato and Kushina. A week before their graduation, Sakumo informed me that I didn't have a choice but to take the exam with them, and until the exam was to take place I would be attending Tsunade's five-day class on the role medics would play in the war, then join Sakumo's team as their medic. Somewhere in that was a veiled threat that if I failed, I would be placed in the ROOT program.

I followed orders, but avoided him for the entire week.

The Academy exam was frankly a joke in comparison to the training I underwent with Sakumo. There was a mediocre obstacle course during which at a random point a Genjutsu was placed for us to dispel. We had to be able to critically hit four moving targets with only four of our choice throwing weapons. We were placed in a Taijutsu match with one of the Chuunin proctors and had to survive for five minutes, then were ordered to perform the three basic Academy jutsu as well as one other. I was too lazy to go through all the hand seals for one of the several defensive jutsu Sakumo had taught me, so I just broke my little finger and healed it without any seals. It impressed the proctors and I exempted the written portion of the test, because they figured that if I had the know-how for medical jutsu, it was pointless to have me sit through an exam I'd probably ace without trying. I was only a minute late to Tsunade's last class, but when she saw the brand-new hitai-ate and my team assignment clutched in my fist, she let it slide with a disapproving scowl. I scowled back on principle.

(-_-)

Whenever a new teammate joined an active team, there was a required two-week acclimation period. As such, I was scheduled to spend my first two weeks as a Genin with Sakumo and his three teammates. My very first scheduled mission was a B-rank, which frankly scared the hell out of me. I was slightly comforted by the fact that Sakumo and another of his teammates were full Jōnin, another was a Tokubetsu Jōnin and the last one was a Chuunin. Our first meeting was somewhat interesting.

I was five minutes late to our meeting because Tsunade had pulled me aside after the last field medic class to tell me that while my shenanigans in the training program were entertaining, I was now a shinobi and if she heard even a rumor of me breaking any of her medic-nin rules she would pull me off the field and stick me in the recovery ward of the hospital until I learned my lesson. I retorted that she didn't have the authority because all medics with the slightest potential, no matter what rank, in battlefield positions were being discharged no matter what. I left before she could argue.

"You're late!" Sakumo snapped as I dashed onto the field.

"Tsunade thinks I'm a rule-breaker so she felt the need to threaten me," I retorted, earning myself a slap on the back of my head.

"You are a rule-breaker, kid, and a troublemaker. If you told her off for being right—"

I snorted, earning myself another hit.

"He's six!" One on my new teammates exclaimed in disgust. "We can't afford dead weight!"

"I'm nine!" I retorted.

Sakumo clamped a hand over my mouth before I could add an insult to the statement. "He's been apprenticed to me for nearly two years, he won't be a dead weight. We need a medic on our team and he's been certified for over six months even though he only got off his ass and took the Genin exam today. Now, with a medic on our team, we can take higher-ranked missions more often. There is a new policy on medics. They're not supposed to fight unless it's an absolute last resort. As our medic, we defend him. That means he's going to be the one carrying the mission scroll, maps, and any other vital mission supplies, not me." At this, I managed to slip out of Sakumo's grip. "Now, as a medic, even though he's a Genin, he only answers to me, Tsunade, and the Hokage, so haze him at your own risk, because Tsunade doesn't like her medics being harassed and we all know the Hokage almost always lets her have her way. Everyone sit down, we're doing introductions, Inuzuka, you start."

We all sat in a circle of the training ground and a man with spiky black hair scowled as he introduced himself. "I'm Inuzuka Jiro, full Jōnin. My partner is Takumi, also a Jōnin. On mission, he's called 'Dog', no exceptions." He whistled once and a huge dog bounded out of the trees. The creature was covered with thick, midnight black fur and nearly twice my size. "We specialize in my clan techniques, close combat, and Ninjutsu." The dog sniffed at my face and I quickly scratched behind his ear to distract him when he covered half my face with slobber in a single lick. Unfortunately, it only excited the creature and he knocked me backwards to better down me in slobber.

I liked dogs, they were smart, fun to wrestle with, but I preferred the ones that did not resort to licking to communicate their approval of an individual. The dog had more chakra than me and almost completely obscured mine as he lay down on top of me. I smirked as I fended off Takumi's enthusiastic greeting and performed a silent substitution with Jiro. Takumi barked happily the second the switch was complete and Jiro shouted indignantly. The group laughed good-naturedly. My smirk turned immediately into a scowl when I saw Sakumo holding out a hand to the other two teammates, who handed over a sizable sum of money.

"What was the bet over?" I demanded.

"That you would prank Inuzuka within five minutes of meeting the team," Sakumo answered. "They bet you couldn't pull it off."

"You should've told me and I would have thought up something more original."

Sakumo shrugged and slapped the lot into my hand. "That was original enough for me. Here's part of what I owe you."

"How did a kid win a bet against you, Hatake?" One of the others, who looked like a textbook Nara, asked.

"He bet he could beat up one of the Sandaime's students."

"The hell, Hatake? You could've gotten the kid killed!" The person to my right barked. He had light brown hair that wisped across his face, blurring his features.

"The bet was that I could have one of the Sandaime's students beaten up by the end of the day," I clarified as I tucked the money into my short, dark green, sleeveless kimono, which looked like a male version of Kushina's canon outfit from when she was a Genin. I crossed my legs, which were covered by dark green shinobi pants and adjusted the strap of my black shinobi sandals. "So, I told Tsunade that I overheard that Orochimaru had managed to calculate her bra size and was bragging to Jiraiya, so Jiraiya stole one of her bras to try and prove Orochimaru had miscalculated and let the entire thing play out. Tsunade beat up both of them and neither saw it coming. She knew I was lying, but she was mad at them for something else and the Sandaime had forbidden her from beating the two of them up for it, so she used the excuse I gave her. I got the equivalent of my monthly orphan's stipend off him and a week off from Tsunade. Win-win for me."

"You're a little cheat!" Jiro snapped as Takumi finally rolled off him. The effect of his anger was all but neutralized by the fact he was scratching the dog's belly and covered with hair and slobber.

"I ain't winning if I ain't cheating."

"You're a bastard for training your apprentice like that, Hatake," the man to my right laughed.

"Hey! He came like that. Shimizu, introduce yourself next."

The person to my right, who didn't seem to have a problem with insulting Sakumo, spoke. "I'm Shimizu Arata, Tokubetsu Jōnin. I specialize in intelligence, Genjutsu, and traps."

"Nara, you next."

The last person on the team raised a hand. "Nara Saburo, Chuunin. Specialization in long-range combat. I find it unfair that the kid is exempted from dress code, Hatake."

"There isn't a dress code for Genin," I argued.

"How about you introduce yourself, kid, before you start picking fights," Sakumo suggested.

"Uzumaki Kichiro, Genin. I'm a medic, but no specialization yet. Why don't you introduce yourself as well, Sakumo?" I asked pointedly.

"Hatake Sakumo, Jōnin and team leader. No specialization."

"So your student is a disrespectful little cheat," Jiro amended his previous accusation.

"We have an agreement," Sakumo answered before launching into a lecture on the team formation and roles.

We went deeper in depth about individual abilities and Sakumo outlined strategies in the dirt for the rest of the day. When the sun was about to set, Sakumo sent me home to meet Kushina just in time for when we agreed to meet. The second I landed, Minato slammed into me.

"Where's Kushina?" He asked frantically. "She said she'd meet me here an hour ago, but she hasn't showed and there's no note! We're on the same Genin team and she had forgotten something at the training field and said she'd meet me here but it's been an hour and when I went back to the field, she wasn't there and had left this!" Minato shoved the scroll that contained the Uzumaki library into my hands.

Shit. I did not expect her to be kidnapped this soon. If anything, I expected Kumo to kidnap me instead, since I made it clear, even to outsiders, that I did not agree with many of Konoha's policies. In hindsight, I suppose it made sense. Kushina spent most of her time with Minato, who was just a Genin, I just spent almost the entire day in the presence of Jōnin, and frankly, I was a better ninja than her, no matter what my rank said.

"She'd never leave that behind, Kichiro! That's her special scroll! I think she's been kidnapped! Kichiro! Are you listening?"

I shoved the scroll into my kimono. "Yes, I'm listening. You're probably right. The  _only_  reason she would leave this scroll behind would be if she was kidnapped. How long has she been gone?"

I wasn't sure Minato heard anything after I confirmed his fear.

"Minato!" I snapped. "How long has she been gone?"

"Less than an hour."

"Right." I leapt up to my door and pulled out a scrap of paper from one of my pockets along with a pencil and shuriken. I scribbled 'assistance required, Kushina kidnapped, Kichiro and Minato in pursuit' onto the paper in the standard Konoha code, noted the time, pinned it to the door, tied one of my hairs around the shuriken, and leapt back down to Minato. "Take me back to the training ground you last saw her at." I ordered.

Minato didn't hesitate to grab my wrist and drag me there. It only took a moment for me to find a clump of her hair by the edge of the clearing.

"Shit! Sakumo never taught me to raise an alarm," I snarled at no one before turning to Minato. "Come on, we're going after her, top speed and I'm taking full responsibility. You know the Inuzuka tracking formation, right?"

Minato nodded.

"Good. Let's go."

Just like that, we were off. I made sure to keep my cursing in my head for Minato's sake. Every time I saw one of Kushina's hairs, I dropped a few of my own on top of it to strengthen the trail. We followed it to a hole in the wall. I did my best to trip every security alarm I could see before we were through the wall. While the people who took Kushina hadn't left much of a trail, Minato and I made sure to leave as obvious of one that we could, not that anyone seemed to be following us, to my immense displeasure. The village was supposed to be at war.

It was almost midnight when Minato started to fall behind. I stopped and motioned him over to me. Within a minute, I healed the aching soreness in his legs that slowed him down, and we were off again.

I guessed it to be almost two in the morning when we finally caught a glimpse of Kushina. Minato and I stopped abruptly. I started to sign instructions to him, but he just looked confused. I signed them again and he shook his head. Right, Jōnin normally taught their teams the signs and Minato hadn't learned yet. I grabbed his arm and dragged him out of earshot.

"Um, I'll jump in front of them and distract them. You neutralize the threat from behind, got it?"

Minato nodded once and I took off. In less than a minute, I landed just inside of a standard attack range and dramatically pulled my sticks from where they were secured to the small of my back.

"Give me back my sister!" I demanded loudly. The last syllable of 'sister' masked the sound of Minato knocking out the Jōnin in the back and lowering him to the ground without a sound.

"Oh really, little boy, we could use another Uzumaki. How about you take her from us?" He walked towards me, just as Kushina took out the second Jōnin's knee with a vicious kick and Minato knocked him out before he could make a sound. I didn't wait for the Jōnin to launch his attack, I leapt forward. He threw a kunai and everything seemed to slow as I twisted in midair to avoid the blade going straight into my heart.

Just as I felt the blade press against my kimono, a giant hand closed around the handle while the other shoved me backwards and out of range of any stray attacks. I landed on my feet and crouched defensively as the new arrival turned to me.

"Sensei!" Minato and Kushina cheered.

I recognized Jiraiya in a heartbeat, but Sakumo had stressed the fact that I always needed to confirm identity when in the field.

"Easy, does it, kid, you alright? You're Hatake's apprentice, right?" Jiraiya tried to placate me. The fact he still had a kunai in his hand did not help.

_Confirm identity._  I signed to him in the little bit of the Jōnin sign language I knew from Sakumo. It looked like I was just readjusting my grip.

Jiraiya didn't respond. It could have meant one of two things, first and most likely: Jiraiya thought I was just adjusting my grip since I was a Genin and probably shouldn't know any of the Jōnin signs. The second option, which I went with just to be safe was that he was an extra member of the Kumo team.

"Kumo teams operate in standard groups of four. The entire Academy knows I'm apprenticed to Hatake."  _Confirm identity._

Jiraiya holstered his kunai and tapped his right thigh with four fingers then all five digits, the current sign for a Konoha Jōnin. I responded by putting away my sticks and adjusting my hitai-ate with my second finger and thumb, the sign for a Konoha Genin.

"Hatake's taught you well, kid," Jiraiya commented, straightening from his defensive crouch. "But Kumo infiltration teams—"

"Operate in teams of three, as do the abduction teams, I'm not an idiot. You could have just responded the first time, Jiraiya."

"You are extremely disrespectful for a puny, day-old Genin."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "No medic takes any special care to respect you in particular." I brushed past him to where Kushina was leaning heavily against Minato and holding her ribs. "Tell Tsunade I said thanks for the week off."

Jiraiya's face turned red. "You're the squirt who—"

"Yes, I am," I answered while I crouched and pressed a hand against Kushina's side. It took me almost ten minutes to heal the fractured ribs. When I finished and stood, Kushina hugged me tightly. After a second, she pulled Minato into the hug as well. I took the opportunity to use a bit of medical Ninjutsu to check for any further injuries on them.

I patted them both on the head and pulled away, turning to face Jiraiya with a question. "I know you're supposed to be reporting in three and a half hours, kid," he stated firmly before I could say a word. "And you may not go on ahead and try and make it. Kumo was after a Uzumaki. You're staying with me until we're back in the village."

Minato and Kushina looked between us in confusion at the sudden tension. They may have missed the threat, but I got it. Minato and I were in trouble for leaving the village without permission. Well, at least I promised him I'd take responsibility. Better I get in trouble than the future Yondaime to have a black spot on his record. Besides, it's not like I hadn't tried to draw attention to myself as I was leaving. I couldn't do a thing about it now, so I just picked up the smallest of the Kumo nin by an arm and a leg, hefted him onto my back, and started marching back towards the village. Kushina leaned on Minato, Jiraiya hoisted the other two Kumo nin, and so the long walk back began.


	6. Chapter 6

When we made it back to the village, it was nearly noon of the next day. The two youngest were about to fall over with exhaustion. I should have been tired as well, but considering part of Sakumo's training had consisted of functioning when exhausted, combined with I trick I had devised by combining theories from my world and medical Ninjutsu of this world, I could theoretically stave off the need for sleep indefinitely. I didn't dare try it for more than twenty-four hours at my current age.

Jiraiya dropped the Kumo nin at the front gate with a pair of Chuunin before putting a hand on the back of my neck and all but dragging my reluctant ass to the Hokage's office, Minato and Kushina trailing behind, their feet dragging. Sakumo met us at the entrance without a word and grabbed my arm tightly so Jiraiya could escort his Genin inside, a hand on each of their shoulders. It didn't take long for us to appear in front of the Hokage. There were four other people in the room. One I immediately recognized as Danzō by the X on his chin, who had the other two council members flanking him. The finely dressed redhead, the only person in the room who remained seated when we walked in could only be Uzumaki Mito.

The Sandaime motioned for a report. Jiraiya, the highest ranking of us, began.

Around midnight, Jiraiya had found the note (which he placed on the Hokage's desk along with the shuriken marked with my hair) when he had stopped by the apartment to deliver orders to Kushina, assuming Minato would be there as well, since he hadn't returned to the orphanage. I was slightly annoyed by the fact that he thought delivering orders at midnight to two Genin who should have been asleep at that hour was a perfectly okay thing to do. He noticed the hair and immediately returned to the training ground where he had last seen Kushina, correctly assuming it would be the trail he needed to follow. It hadn't taken him long to pick up the trail and race after us. He caught up to us while we were planning to intercept the Kumo team and decided to remain hidden until he was needed. After describing the fight and summarizing the aftermath, Jiraiya motioned for me to give my report.

"I had just arrived at my apartment complex when Minato told me that Kushina hadn't met him when she said she would. He said he had gone to look for her and found her scroll with some of her favorite things sealed inside on the training ground." I held up the scroll with the Uzumaki library in it. Kushina had mentioned once that the seal on the scroll would only open for her, so I had no problem arrogantly waving it around. "Sorry I forgot to give this back earlier." I leaned around Jiraiya and handed her the scroll before continuing. "Minato and I quickly concluded that she had been abducted. By that time, her position had been unknown for nearly an hour. I wrote the note and left it on my door while we went to see if we could find a trail, which we did."

"Why didn't you raise an alarm?" The Hokage asked sharply.

"With all due respect, Saru—"

Sakumo's hand tightened in warning.

" _Sandaime-sama_ ," I amended, pointedly looking in Sakumo's general direction before turning my attention back towards the Hokage. "At the time this occurred, I had been a Genin for less than a day, and my team leader had not had the chance to tell me how to raise said alarm, considering the first day on a new team is traditionally spent on introductions, ability assessment, and getting an idea of which team formation would be most effective. Pre-Genin are not taught how to raise the alarm for a security breach for a reason."

"Why didn't you report the situation to the nearest shinobi?"

"There were no shinobi present. Our apartment is on the edge of the village, far removed from the shinobi paths."

"Very well, continue."

"Minato and I found the trail of hair Kushina had left behind at her and Minato's team training ground."

"Standard procedure dictates immediately reporting MIA teammates to the nearest superior officer. Why didn't the two of you report when you confirmed your teammate to be MIA?" Danzō interrupted, addressing Minato with a small amount of killing intent. The kid stumbled backwards under the unexpected pressure, though part of it might have been exhaustion.

I jerked out of Sakumo's grip and stepped between Minato and Danzō, my arms and legs spread in a defensive position. "First, as a certified medic, I am automatically a ranked shinobi and I am Minato's superior officer. He did everything by the book, so you can't rip into him for anything. Second, it had been less than an hour since Kushina was last seen, officially, she couldn't be considered MIA for another five hours. Third, while inside the village, the standard procedure for individuals unaccounted for is that the closest superior officer is to attempt to locate the individual. There is no procedure for when that attempt takes said officer out of the village. Finally, according to all relevant statistics, she was supposed to be already dead, and her body was about to be put up as a message to the village.  _Orphaned Genin_  aren't kidnapped for ransom, information, or as leverage and if there was something special about her, procedure dictates that I, as her immediate family and potential leverage against her, should have known the instant it became relevant or when I started training to be a shinobi. You have absolutely no ground to be issuing threats or accusing me or Minato of breaking protocol, councilman."

"Control your Genin!" Danzō barked at Sakumo.

"Control your advisor!" I barked at the Hokage, but my eyes never left Danzō and I made sure to only include him in the angle of my body.

It was a testament to the fact that I was right that Sakumo didn't move on Danzō's order. He signed at me behind his back, telling me to be respectful.

_Genin: normal?_  The Hokage asked Sakumo in the standard sign language. I nearly missed the message it was so fast and practiced.

_Normal._  Sakumo confirmed. Good to know no one messed with my mind, but I could have told them that. I was very proud of myself for not even raising my voice. "Stand down, Uzumaki," Sakumo ordered. I straightened and stepped back into my position beside him.

"May I finish my report, Sandaime-sama?" Ha, I could speak politically if I wanted to.

The Hokage gestured permission.

"After discovering the trail of hair, I began to add to it with my own as we followed it to the village wall. It was there that I deliberately set off every security measure I came across, which totaled to thirteen different seals meant to prevent any unauthorized individual from entering or exiting. They didn't do a damn thing."

"How did you know the purpose of the seals?" the Uzumaki woman asked suddenly.

"I lived in Uzushiogakure for over seven years where nearly every surface has a seal of some sort on it. It's a simple thing to identify the exact same seals that covered every entrance and exit of the orphanage I grew up in, Uzumaki-san, especially when the same hand made them. Your hand."

The room tensed. She hummed, satisfied. "You're your parents' son." She exchanged a meaningful glance with the Hokage. "Continue with your report." I dismissed the comment and continued.

"When the seals did nothing, Minato and I continued to follow the trail as fast as we could. Eventually, we came upon the team with Kushina. The rest went exactly as Jiraiya-san described."

"Minato-kun, do you have anything to add?" The Hokage asked kindly.

"I-I do not, Sandaime-sama."

"Kushina-chan, please give your report."

Kushina stammered through retelling how she had gone back to the training ground to get her favorite kunai she had forgotten after her team meeting and when she had gotten there, she saw something strange in the trees. Once she recognized the Kumo hitai-ate, the had tried to run towards the village, but she tripped and accidentally dropped the scroll in the pile of leaves she landed in. Once she realized the ninja were abducting her and not trying to kill her, she started pulling out her hair to make a trail. For a while they carried her as they ran, but once they were far enough away from the village without any sign of pursuit, they arrogantly decided to slow down. She finished with the fact that they used signs to communicate and never spoke until I appeared in the path.

"Thank you, Kushina-chan, Minato-kun. You are dismissed. Go home and get some rest."

I started to follow them.

"Kichiro-kun, please stay. Jiraiya, would you escort them home, please?"

Jiraiya nodded and escorted his team out the door.

"Kichiro-kun, as the only present medic, were there any injuries?"

"Kushina had a few ribs with greenstick fractures, which I fully healed on-site, as well as a few scrapes and bruises, all of which will heal in a few days. Everything aligned with her report. The cracked ribs likely happened while she was being carried and the scrapes and bruises are consistent with several falls, though some were from earlier in the day. Minato and myself are uninjured, but I was not able to confirm Jiraiya-san's health."

"Shimura-san, Mitokado-san, Utatane-san, you are dismissed." The council nodded and left. "Hatake-san, please wait outside."

I shifted uncomfortably as Sakumo left.

"Sit down, Kichiro-kun," Mito invited, gesturing towards the chair. Warily, I sat on the edge of the seat.

"Are you aware of why your sister was targeted?" The Hokage asked.

"Officially, no, I am not."

"Unofficially?"

"Unofficially, I can make an educated guess on the matter based on information that has been given to me."

When I didn't elaborate, the Hokage prompted, "What is that guess?"

"The Uzumaki clan members generally have an abnormally long lifespan, exceptional vitality, and chakra reserves comparable to the Senju and Uchiha clans, which gives them a significant advantage on the battlefield. Whomever controls the remnants of the clan hold the potential to build a second Uzumaki clan, bred specifically for frontline combat, which they are naturally suited for, rather than as the seal masters they had become. The orphanage where the other surviving Uzumaki children live is guarded by Chuunin. I am almost always in the company of at least one Jōnin between my work at the hospital and training with Hatake-san. Kushina spends the majority of her time with her Academy classmate. She was the ideal target."

"You are much more intelligent than your age suggests."

"Yes, Sandaime-sama, but you have not asked me to remain behind in order to hear a Genin's theorizing. You want to tell me something. What is it?"

"I believe your exact words were 'if there was something special about her, procedure dictates that I, as her immediate family and potential leverage against her, should have known the instant it became relevant or when I started training to be a shinobi,' correct?"

"Correct."

"Then I believe I owe you an explanation."

I bit back the smart-ass response on the tip of my tongue.

"The Uzumaki clan has all the attributes you described, but there is one that is not as well-known. Uzumaki chakra is especially suited for controlling the tailed beasts." At this, Mito's chakra flared. I wasn't an exceptional sensor, but I was good enough to confirm a second chakra signature beneath Mito's when I concentrated.

The Hokage studied my response.

"You are not surprised by this."

"I already knew," I responded cheekily, but with a completely serious expression.

"Why haven't you mentioned before?"

"You never asked. You did ask if I knew why my sister was targeted. I have no way of knowing the intentions of another country and I have no reason to suspect that Kumo has a tailed beast they need to be contained, thus it wasn't relevant to your question."

"Am I correct in assuming you are not being completely straight with me?" He suggested, an edge in his voice.

"With all due respect, Sandaime-sama, I have not lied to you or deliberately withheld pertinent, important information," I answered in a perfectly conversational tone. "You were the one who lied to me when you assured me that my sister and I would be perfectly safe and free within the walls of Konoha, and you withheld the fact that the other villages are actively seeking my sister and I for traits we have no control over. For the record, my sister was just abducted, there is an active threat to the safety of both my sister and myself. I was promised freedom, yet less than a week after I arrived you gave orders for me to attend the Academy and attempted to manipulate me into becoming nothing more than a common soldier. When I protested this, you authorized me to be brutalized and manipulated until I complied. I am barely nine years old and I can slaughter a dozen civilians, a dozen different ways, in under a minute without shedding a drop of blood, and I didn't want to learn any of it. Please remind me why I should be expected to share every detail I know, when it all is compiled from sources accessible by the public." Well, not accessible to this public. I was very, very proud that I managed to keep a light, friendly tone through the entire rant.

It took the Professor several minutes to dissect the implications of everything I said. I was so glad I practiced that rant in my head on the way back. Mito sat and watched the proceedings, smirking slightly.

"You told your sister about the capabilities of Uzumaki chakra, the tailed beasts, and my status as a Jinchuuriki," Mito stated.

"Correct."

"That is why she kept her teacher between me and her."

"No, it is not. Her reasons are her own and I don't care to share them with a stranger."

"But you are not afraid."

"I am not, Uzumaki-san."

"Are you aware that either—"

"Mito-san!" The Hokage interrupted sharply.

"I am aware that  _I_  will become the next Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." I finished her sentence.

Two sharp sets of eyes assaulted me with suspicion.

"Konoha's already ruined my life," I glared back at the Hokage, struggling to keep my voice even as I stood up. "But if this village ruins the life of an idealistic eight-year-old girl, who can't even understand the way of the world she lives in, your petty victory will be decisively overturned."

I let my words sink in. Mito looked away from me and focused on the Hokage with a smirk on her face. I had already won. I could feel it.

"I don't trust you," the Sandaime said bluntly.

"I don't trust you either," I responded. "See? Honestly and forwardness isn't near as difficult as you thought it to be. I am very aware of what I just threatened,  _Sandaime-sama_ , but I wholeheartedly meant every word I said." I knew I was going to get in a ridiculous amount of trouble from Sakumo once he found out that I mocked the Hokage, but the expression on the Sandaime's face was completely worth every second.

A long silence punctuated my declaration. Mito and the Hokage were almost immediately locked in a battle of wills. Mito finally broke it.

"You heard his oath as well as I did. As long as you remain honest with and loyal to him, he will return the favor." Mito stated, unwavering. "The boy hates murder, but he loves justice. He may not be able to see the kind of shinobi you can be, but he knows exactly what kind of person you are. I will add your requested seal, but if the boy is lied to or betrayed, it will break. For as long as your will is stronger than his, you will have control. Do not abuse your authority. That is your one and only warning," Mito finished.

I had beaten them both. I knew it, the Hokage knew it, Mito knew it, but I still lost. I had gotten what I wanted, sure, but I couldn't win. Mito stood up and reached towards me. I jerked away from her, terrified and disgusted, but two ANBU appeared on either side of me and held me tightly by the arms. I looked at the Hokage one last time, but he couldn't meet my eye. I didn't struggle, it was no use and would only destroy the little dignity I had left, but I couldn't find the strength to lift my head as the ANBU forced me to walk.

"Kichiro?" Sakumo asked cautiously. I didn't respond. I couldn't even flinch as the door banged open like the sound of a gunshot. "What the hell happened to that kid?" Sakumo roared before the door slammed shut. I couldn't bring myself to appreciate that Sakumo cared.

The ANBU followed Mito down hundreds of stairs, so deep that my ears popped several times on the way. At the very bottom of the staircase, Mito continued while the ANBU turned into a small room and led me to sit on the low bed. They took my kunai pouch and sticks first, which was basically the entirety of my shinobi supplies, and placed them on a table at the foot of the bed. Next, they took off my shoes and shirt.

"You don't deserve this, kid," one of the ANBU said while he unclasped the necklace with my key from around my neck.

"But it doesn't change a damn thing, does it?" I murmured back as he pulled the knot of my hitai-ate loose and laid it atop the key. I was dressed in nothing by my shinobi trousers as they led me out of the room and down the hall. Mito opened a heavy stone door. Inside, the walls, ceiling, and floor was covered with sealing lines. In the center was a stone table. They laid me on it, face up, and locked my wrists and ankles in place.

"Stay strong, kid," the ANBU said before they both left, the door swinging closed like thunder, leaving only me and Mito in the room. I closed my eyes.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"You're the one who will be signing away your life. I don't see why my answer to your question would make any difference."

I heard an ink bottle opening before Mito's hand wrapped around my left wrist and peeled open my fist. Soft enough that I barely felt it, she drew a seal on the palm of my left hand, then my right, followed by one on my forehead, the soles of both my feet, and then my sternum. One-by-one, she laid her palm over the first five seals and sent a tiny, measured burst of chakra into each of them. She laid her hand over my sternum.

"I know what I think doesn't matter at all to you, but I am sorry." Her chakra rushed through her hands and into the seal, which automatically connected to the other five she drew. I clenched my jaw tightly to avoid screaming as the seals burned themselves into my skin. "That was the first seal. It allows the Hokage to force you to carry out nearly any order he gives you. As long as he is honest with you and does not knowingly and deliberately act for your detriment, the seal will remain. If you attempt to directly disobey orders or carry out any kind of sabotage on them, the seal will stop you. I know you're a rebellious kid. You like pushing the limits. As long as you don't cross any lines, you can say or do whatever you like. The Hokage is now the master of you as a shinobi, not you as a person."

I turned away from her. I didn't care. Without another word, she began to draw the seal for the Kyuubi on my stomach. A few minutes later, she finished. She laid her hands on the seal and activated it. The actual transfer of the Kyuubi was both burned into my memory and burned out of it. I remembered the feel of the Kyuubi's incredibly dense and pervasive chakra filling the room, but nothing else until the transfer was complete and the door popped open with the sound of a Pillsbury® can being twisted open. Through my barely-open eyelids, I watched as the Hokage entered first, wary. He pressed two fingers against my neck and I jerked away from his touch, my throat raw and painful.

"The boy's alive, the sealing was successful. What about Mito-san?"

"She's dead," an ANBU responded emotionlessly.

"Take care of the boy, get him whatever he needs. I need him ready to go back on the field as soon as possible, the seal should completely isolate his chakra from the beast's until he's strong enough to completely control it, so his abilities should be unaltered."

I couldn't help but whimper softly as the ANBU unfastened the restraints and peeled my wrists and ankles out of them, tearing of scabs in the process. He lifted me up like a child. A minute later, he laid me back on a bed, facing the wall.

"He just needs time and rest," one of the ANBU said to another.

No, time and rest wouldn't fix anything. I just wanted it all to go away, at least for a little while. A needle slid into my arm and that's exactly what happened.


	7. Part 2

Sakumo only let me lock myself in the room for the night, or what I assumed to be the night. Being drugged skewed my perception of time. An hour or so before he arrived, I had woken up and spent the time staring at the dark seals on the palms of my hands. I wasn't anywhere near good enough at sealing to understand them. The blanket someone had draped over me kept out a good portion of the room's chill, and the hard knot in my stomach, where I knew the Kyuubi resided, warded off the rest.

According to Kushina, any seal could be broken if the person trying to break it was good enough. In time, I could probably figure out how, if the seal would let me in the first place.

"Kichiro?" Sakumo said from the door. "It's morning. I brought someone here to see you."

"Go away."

"Sorry, kid."

"I don't want to talk to anyone."

"Nii-san?" Kushina asked hesitantly.

"Go away." Normally, when I said something less than kind to Kushina, Kichiro would protest, but now, the boy was silent. The little niche in my consciousness where he had set up shop had been replaced. I knew the Kyuubi's seal had destroyed him, considering there was a nice big knot in his place.

"You have ten minutes, Kushina-chan, before you have to leave in order to report for your team meeting."

"Thank you, Hatake-san." Sakumo left and the door closed. "Hokage-sama sent one of the ANBU to tell me what happened, and how you refused to let them seal the Kyuubi inside of me."

"You shouldn't be here."

"Yes, I should be here. Before you say I can't be here, know that I went through all the right channels. One of the ANBU brought me here himself. Or herself, it's hard to tell the difference in those uniforms."

"I don't want to talk to anyone, Kushina."

"You never want to talk to anyone. The only person you don't mind talking to is Hatake-san."

"I don't want to talk to him either."

"Kichiro!" She whined. "You have to talk to someone!"

"Not if I don't want to."

"Can you at least look at me, Kichiro?"

"Go away," I snapped harshly.

"I'm not just going to leave you. You must talk about it with someone, Nii-san. If not me, then Hatake-san, or Minato, or I'm sure Hokage-sama would take time to help you!"

"You're an idiot, Kushina. Sakumo only teaches me because I have something he wants. Minato doesn't give a damn about me, he only cares about you. And the Hokage? That piece of shit wouldn't piss on me if I was on fire, nor would I want him to."

"Don't talk like that, Nii-san! People care about you!"

"Kushina, the only person who really gives a damn that I'm breathing is you. You've done your good deed for the day, now get out!" I rolled onto my stomach and covered my head with my arms.

"What's on your hand?" Kushina demanded.

I clenched both hands to hide the seals.

"Kichiro?"

"Get out, Kushina."

"Look at me, Kichiro!"

"Please, get out."

"What happened, Nii-san?" She begged, pulling at my shoulder.

"Go away!" I shouted at her.

"I'm not going anywhere, you're hurting, Nii-san, I can't leave you like this. Minato will cover for me and Sensei will understand."

"Just go, Kushina."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Get out!" I screamed. For the briefest of seconds, I felt the Kyuubi's chakra begin to slip from the seal.

The door banged open. "Kushina, go report to your team, that's an order," Sakumo said harshly.

She hesitated, her hand tightening around my shoulder, but obeyed in the end. When her footsteps faded, Sakumo slammed the door.

"What the hell are you thinking, yelling at your  _sister_  like that?"

"She's not my sister."

"You haven't meant that for years." Sakumo grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the bed, my knees struck the table at the end of the bed. "Get dressed. I remember what you told me about Madara and if you think the fact that the Kyuubi is sealed in you will just stop his plans then I guess you aren't as smart as I thought." He slapped a pair of black fingerless uniform gloves with metal plates on the back and padding around the knuckles down atop my sandals. I flinched. "I know exactly what the Hokage is responsible for, kid, and I don't give a damn how you feel about it because I know you don't want me to. The team needs to see how well you fight and you need to see  _how_  they fight. We have a mission on the warfront in exactly a week."

"The Hokage is letting me out of the village?" I snorted in disbelief.

"You're a medic, kid. Every capable medic-nin is out in the field except you right now. Jiro and I are the only Jōnin in the village. We are fighting a war on several fronts now, so the least you can do is make sure more of us can come back alive. It will be at least a year before the seal weakens enough to allow any of the Kyuubi's chakra to escape and it will take several years before it can mess with your own control, so long as you can keep your emotions under control, which I know for certain you can. Now,  _get dressed_."

At that, I found the resolve to pick up my hitai-ate and put it on. Satisfied, he left and I followed five minutes later, pulling the gloves on and clenching my fist with resolve. I had promised I would keep Kushina, Minato, and Sakumo alive years ago. I swore to myself I'd never forget that promise again.

Unfortunately, my self-control was tested the second I stepped onto the training field for the team meeting. Saburo marched up to me the second I arrived.

"You are responsible for the death of Uzumaki Mito."

I glared up at him. "I am not. She was responsible for her own death."

"Yet you're the Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki, not her."

"If you have an objection, take it up with the Hokage, not me. It was a decision made between him and Mito, I had no choice in whether or not the Kyuubi was resealed."

"That's enough, Nara," Sakumo stepped between us before Saburo could respond. "If you have a problem with my student, you take it up with me, not him." The two glared at each other, but after a minute, Saburo stepped back. "Inuzuka, you and Takumi against Shimizu and Nara. Uzumaki and I will watch. Nothing above B-rank."

The two faced off and Sakumo pulled me out of the way.

It didn't take me long to figure out their styles. There was a reason they were put together. Most teams consisted of three Chuunin and a Jōnin. Generally, the only time there was more than one Jōnin on a team was when a Chuunin was promoted and the team decide to stay together and start taking higher-ranked missions proportional to the team skill and rank. This team could probably take any A-rank and come out just fine.

It took less than two minutes for Jiro to incapacitate Saburo and Arata. I wasn't surprised when Saburo was knocked out by Jiro's well-timed backswing. The Inuzuka was only a year or two younger than Sakumo, and Saburo was no older than sixteen. With a complicated flip and the clever placement of an explosive note by Takumi, Jiro managed to lock Arata in a full nelson until he conceded, which only took a second.

Sakumo nudged me after the fight concluded and gestured towards Saburo. "No Genjutsu, Uzumaki," he snapped as I placed my hand on the Chuunin's forehead.

"Talented Genin," Jiro grunted.

"Thanks," I answered. "You turn your toe in when you kick and it offsets your balance."

"Think you can do better?" He challenged.

"He can't, he has the exact same habit," Sakumo slapped the back of my head.

A second later, Saburo woke and slapped my hand away from his forehead then shoved me backwards. I snarled and Jiro grabbed my collar before I could retaliate.

"Shimizu, you're up against Uzumaki."

Jiro deposited me in the center of the training ground like a naughty puppy. "Why Shimizu?" Jiro asked.

"You'll see," Sakumo responded.

"Nara is closer to his skill level."

"Nara is under Uzumaki's Genjutsu, the kid thought he'd be facing Saburo as well."

Jiro raised an eyebrow. "Sneaky kid."

"Not once you learn his tricks."

"How good is he at Genjutsu?"

"He only knows one, and made up another."

"Uzumakis hate Genjutsu as a rule."

"He does, otherwise he could have a few dozen under his belt."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, I can hear you," I interrupted.

Sakumo rolled his eyes. "You have a fight to lose."

"Hey!" I snarled at him. "I'm not that bad!"

"You're a Genin," Arata snorted. "Genin suck as a rule."

"You're on," I hissed and settled into my 'Genin' stance, a purposeful bastardization of the Konoha Taijutsu style.

"Exactly, you can't even stand properly!"

I didn't wait for Sakumo to officially start the match. I lurched forward, purposely overextending my arm. Arata caught it.

"See, that only proves—shit!" The man tossed me backwards as I used a tiny bit of medical jutsu to sever the nerves in his elbow. "What the hell was that, Uzumaki?" He demanded, trying to force his hand to work, but it didn't respond. At least it wouldn't until I fixed it.

"Take him seriously, Shimizu. Remember  _I_  am the one who trained him," Sakumo spoke up while Jiro laughed.

"Yeah, but you can't take credit for  _my_  tricks!"

"You're on for real this time, Uzumaki."

I used Kawarimi to land in one of the trees to escape Arata's attempt at a Genjutsu. A single hand seal later, a jet of water appeared between us. Three kunai flew through it as I replaced myself with a log across the clearing, only to yelp as I set off a trap I never noticed Shimizu setting and replaced myself again, but not after I managed to set my own trap. Across the clearing was my slacklining rope, just high enough to be out of Arata's reach. I ran into the center of the clearing.

"Give up," I told Arata, my hands in the boar seal. "I've already won."

"Your kid's an idiot," Jiro commented, "But he's got a good water affinity."

"Just watch," Sakumo responded.

"I think you're mistaken, Uzumaki," he said directly behind me. I jumped directly up, grabbing the rope while he grabbed my ankle. With all of my strength and more than a little chakra, I severed the nerves to his hand and threw him into the air. While he flew upwards, cursing, I released the Genjutsu on the rope and my hands flashed through several seals.

"Wind Prison Jutsu!" I cried as my back landed on the rope and I balanced myself. A swirling prison of air formed around Arata as I bounced. "Yield," I ordered as the ninja hovered a few feet above me. Both Saburo and Jiro gaped while Sakumo just laughed.

"I yield," Arata said with a growl.

I lowered the prison to the ground and jumped down in front of a gob smacked Jiro. "It's a wind affinity, but I can see where you're confused, Jiro."

Sakumo slapped the back of my head. "We go by last names here, Uzumaki."

"As far as I know, there's no such thing as a wind prison," Saburo grunted.

"Obviously it exists, Nara, because I just used it."

"Shut up, both of you," Jiro snapped. "You didn't teach him that, Hatake, so what's the story?"

Sakumo smirked.

"Story time is great and all, but I really want to use my hands again. How long will this last, Uzumaki?" Arata interrupted.

"Forever," I smirked as he snarled. "But I can fix it if you'll give me ten minutes," I added quickly.

We all sat down and I started on reconnecting all of Arata's severed nerves while Sakumo told the story.

"The kid figured out water walking shortly after I started him on chakra control exercises. He got arrogant and thought he was the only one who could do it."

I winced. That hadn't been one of my most brilliant days. I wasn't sure how, but I had completely forgotten that walking on water wasn't a miracle in this world.

"He dared me to catch him if I could and went out into the middle of one of the lakes. I was already ticked off that he had ditched training to experiment on his own, so I shunshined out there faster than he could see and trapped him in the water prison and told him if he could get out before sunset I'd start teaching him jutsu, and if he couldn't, there'd be no Ninjutsu for the next year."

"I figured out how!" I added, "But I didn't have the chakra to actually do it then!"

"Yes, he did figure out how, but the agreement was that you had to get out."

"The water prison is inescapable," Saburo claimed.

"Seriously, what is your problem with me?" I demanded, shooting to my feet and leaving Arata sitting with useless hands. "Why do you have to contradict me on everything?"

"You're just a kid with a monster you can't control sealed in your gut!"

"I can control the Kyuubi just fine!"

"It's going to escape and destroy everything and it's all going to be your fault!"

"First, the Kyuubi is not an it, he is a he. Second, I couldn't loosen the seal right now if I tried, so the Kyuubi isn't going to be escaping any time soon. Third, on the very small off-chance that the Kyuubi does escape, it won't be my fault, because I didn't choose to have the Kyuubi resealed."

"What would you know? You're just a whiny brat!"

"Ad hominem now? Are you trying to discredit yourself?"

Faster than I could see, Saburo lunged forward and punched me in the nose. My head whipped backwards and I barely managed to block a second strike to my face, only to have his foot swing around and connect with my ribs. I reinforced them with chakra so they wouldn't break but it still knocked the wind out of me.

I wasn't bad at functioning through pain, per say, but it was one aspect of my training that Sakumo had been reluctant to address. It was a skill generally taught to new Chuunin, not pre-Genin. Considering my body was still developing, it was far too easy to cause an injury and it accidentally heal wrong then create a permanent problem.

I blocked a second strike to my head and leapt over a low kick, only to have another foot come out of nowhere and catch me in the stomach. I took the opportunity to stumble back as far as I could. Jiro, Takumi, and Sakumo had shadows tying them in place and looked terrifyingly furious about it. Arata was unconscious, thus I was completely on my own.

I continued to stumble away from Saburo, trying to pull him far enough away from his jutsu for it to lose effect.

"Mito should have died with the beast inside of her, destroyed it as well—" I managed to make a Genjutsu stick on him. The trick with using Genjutsu is to make sure the victim doesn't notice. I had a knack for imagining the worst possible outcome for myself, especially when stressed, so I channeled that into the Genjutsu and it was especially successful. The only problem was that I ended up living through the image as well, if a bit vicariously. I had figured it out by accident, so it didn't exactly have a name yet. In the image, I missed blocking one of Saburo's strikes to my head. With a laugh and a handful of obscenities, he slit my throat, which was disgusting and terrifying. The Genjutsu didn't manipulate him, specifically, just specific aspects of his surroundings. I moved the images of the test of the team a few feet forward and to the right, just in time, because Saburo threw two kunai that would have gone through Arata and Takumi's head an instant later. I felt increasingly sick as I watched him march up to Jiro. I couldn't hear what he said, my head was ponding from the beating, but Saburo snarled in Jiro's face and then sliced his throat as well. He moved on to Sakumo as well. It was only when Saburo released that shadow jutsu and Sakumo killed him. Like the snap of a finger, he was dead. No fanfare, gloats, or even warning. Sakumo killed his former teammate with a kunai through the temple.

I couldn't tear my eyes from Saburo's crumpled body. It was one thing that the Kiri nin was attempting to kill children. I didn't regret his death, but Saburo couldn't even fight back, he was trapped in my Genjutsu.

"Oh god, he's dead," I gasped.

Jiro grabbed my arm and turned me away from the scene. "Hey kid, look at me, not him, okay?" I looked over my shoulder and Takumi stepped in the way. "Uzumaki, focus on me first." Takumi nudged me around as Jiro squatted down to my height.

I turned to face the Jōnin.

"Good. Just to be sure, your Genjutsu, it showed him killing us first, right? He slit your throat, put a kunai through both Takumi and Arata's heads and then slit my throat and Hatake's, right? Just nod or shake your head."

I nodded. "How—"

"I'm a Jōnin, kid, of course I can figure out what your Genjutsu was. Next thing, Arata needs your help, okay, so Takumi is going to take you to help him, alright? Focus on helping him."

I nodded again and Jiro slipped my hand into Takumi's collar, which was actually the dog's hitai-ate.

A few seconds later, Takumi nudged me towards Arata and I went to kneel beside him, healing on autopilot. It wasn't difficult, I had healed Arata's type of injuries thousands of times. Every time I tried to turn around, a mass of dark fur obscured my view and Takumi started licking my face until I turned back towards my work. By the time I finished the actual healing, I didn't have enough chakra to wake him up. The Genjutsu was a C-rank jutsu at best for chakra cost, but the complexity I put into it had exhausted me. I slumped backwards against Takumi, too tired to care when the dog curled around me. My head settled in the nook behind his shoulder. I didn't sleep, the ache from the bruises Saburo gave me was too strong, so I listened. Takumi let out a plaintive whine and curled tighter around me when Sakumo crouched beside us.

"Looks like Takumi adopted your kid, Hatake," Jiro laughed. "You ain't getting him back for a while."

"That's fine, he'll come back to me in the end."

"All kids like dogs more than people."

Sakumo laughed. "Anyways, the Genjutsu he used, was it what we thought?"

"Yes. The kid's brilliant, deducing his intentions and playing along with Saburo to distract him just enough to get help, but not enough to distract him and make him realize it was a Genjutsu. Where did he think of something like that?"

"Most of the time I can tell what he's thinking, but sometimes it's like he's living in an entirely different world. Hell if I know what's going through his head then."

"Right. I'm assuming Saburo was right about him being a Jinchuuriki."

"Yes."

My body may have fallen asleep, but my mind was perfectly alert.

"You were supposed to be debriefed on the situation last night with the other Jōnin."

"Tsume and Kuromaru fell ill last night so only Takumi went and we never had a chance to talk since its classified and they were both up all night."

"Are they fine now?"

"They'll be fine in a few days, nothing time won't fix, I'm more worried about her Genin team. They're set to leave the same time as us and unlike Kichiro, she hasn't had her nerve tested in an actual fight. She's still asking to be apprenticed to someone. Apparently her entire Academy class trembles in fear of your student and she wants that kind of fear associated with her name."

"You want to apprentice her to a Jōnin, don't you?"

"She's good enough to have been apprenticed, but I wanted her to be on a Genin team because I thought the peace would last until she was a Chuunin."

"And most apprentices are left in the village during war to preserve the styles of their master."

"Exactly. It was a bad call."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, we both know her Jōnin sensei and he'll take care of her. Besides, I made a bad call not moving Saburo to a different team when Kichiro joined. We suspected him of being a traitor and I never should have risked any Genin like that. Everyone makes mistakes."

"Hokage-sama put our team together to be sure of Saburo, are we still staying a team?"

"Yes, we're a mobile support unit."

"So we won't be back at all for a few months."

"Not unless one of use dies or is injured beyond Kichiro's ability to heal."

"Which is highly unlikely, at least for our team."

"It is."

"You were on the front lines in the last war, right?"

"I was. You were just barely young enough to be kept from the front lines."

"You hated it."

"I did."

"And now, you're going back."

"I am, but now, the difference is that I'm not fighting for myself, I don't have to prove my strength to anyone. I'm fighting for others, something bigger, someone tangible." Sakumo's hand settled on my head, then it was gone. "Come on, let's take care of our real teammates."

Takumi whined again as Sakumo picked me up.

"You have your own pack at home, no need to adopt every single stray you meet," Sakumo scolded the dog. "Inuzuka, take Shimizu home, Uzumaki would've said something before passing out if he hadn't finished healing. Go home yourself, be with your family. I have a feeling we're going to be leaving sooner than scheduled because of this incident."


	8. Chapter 8

Sakumo dropped me off at my apartment where I spent the rest of the day sleeping for real. In the middle of the night I woke and found a note Sakumo left on my table that said our team was leaving the next day, early in the morning. I was very glad that the people who ran the shinobi shops were all former shinobi and the only time their shops were closed were during festivals. Kushina never came home that night, which wasn't unusual. Sometime in the past week, Minato had been dismissed from the orphanage in light of his pending shinobi status. If it wouldn't have been so awkward, I would have just suggested he move in so I didn't have to check the training grounds in the middle of the night to make sure both of them made it somewhere safe for the night.

I packed up everything I needed for my extended mission and placed it in a small bag on the table. Frankly, it was nothing more than a handful of items: a change of clothes, a tiny kit to patch them up if they ripped, a cloak to sleep under (tents were a big shinobi no-no because they restricted movement in case of an ambush), a medic kit, and a water canteen. I laid my sticks beside my bag, as well as my kunai pouch, in which carried senbon instead of kunai.

Thanks to some clever sealing by Kushina, I could fit as many senbon as I could afford into my kunai pouch, which was a few thousand, considering the standard price of senbon was ridiculously low. In my opinion, the shop owner though he could lure me in to buy more sharp pointy things if it seemed like he was willing to offer great deals. Kushina and I were two of his more regular customers, though Kushina only ever bought sealing supplies and a few kunai while I only bought senbon (most shinobi tried their best to avoid creating any habits until they were strong enough to defend against an attack while participating in said habit).

At the same time, old habits die hard. In my old life, I was the oddball that operated on a cash-only basis, unless it couldn't be avoided. I never knew why I got into the habit, but I just did. So, every time Kushina and I received the monthly orphan's stipend and I received my rather substantial pay from the hospital, withdrew the money I would needed from the bank to pay bills such as the rent and utilities, then divvyed the rest into three jars, which Kushina stuck into a secure storage seal in the back of the fridge. One was for food and the rest was split evenly between two jars as spending money for the two of us. Both of us were rather frugal spenders, so even though I never actually looked at the account balance, I had a feeling it was significant. The village had an impressive credit system, but I didn't use it and Kushina didn't understand it well enough to utilize.

I pulled out my jar and put some of it in a small money pouch for the mission and dropped it into my pack. About half of what was left I shoved into my pocket and what remained went into Kushina's jar, I certainly wouldn't need the money considering I'd probably be roughing it for most of the remainder of the war.

I wrote down the access information for the bank account in case Kushina forgot, stuck the paper in the top of her jar, and shoved everything back into the fridge. With part of my money in my pocket, I set out to my frequented shinobi supply shop to buy as many ration bars as I could carry.

"You're a Genin now, aren't you Uzumaki?" The shop owner said as I walked inside, without looking up from the ledger he was writing in. I stood on tiptoes to see over the counter and placed my money on it. "I'm heading out to the war front tomorrow. I need the indefinite mission package of rations and a standard mission set of senbon."

"Genin aren't allowed on the warfront, kid."

"I'm a medic. We go where needed, regardless of rank."

"I'm not trying a sales pitch this time kid, but you need more than senbon and rations for a mission out of the village."

"I have everything I need."

"Do you have wire and at least a few kunai?"

"I don't need—"

"You need at least a few blades, kid, especially since you're a Genin. You can't use your sensei's all the time like in training."

"Medic, I'm a medic."

"Do you have your kit and a change of clothes?"

"Yes."

"A mat and blanket."

"I have a cloak."

"Canteen, bowl, and chopsticks?"

"Canteen, I have, but why would I need a bowl and chopsticks?"

"You can't live off rations, kid, trust me, you'll get sick of them very quick, and I can't picture you eating your food off the ground." The man placed a small metal bowl on the counter with a pile of rations and two rolls of senbon, then took part of the sum I had dropped on the counter. "Consider it a first mission discount." He added three kunai and a spool of ninja wire to the pile of goods. "I know you don't care for blades, kid, but you might need them for more than stabbing people and wire is always useful. Come back alive. If not for me, then for your sister. My business might be able to survive without your senbon obsession, but your sister won't and I won't survive losing her sealing obsession."

We shared a wry smile as he swept everything into a paper bag and handed it to me.

I was about to leave when he finished. "And take that extra money with you on your mission. You never know when you might need it. The bowl is also a convenient place to stick your money and canteen, just a tip."

I nodded once and dashed out the door. In five minutes, I was back home and finished packing. I ate a little and noticed that I had about two hours left before I was required to meet up with the team. I knew I couldn't leave without apologizing to Kushina.

So I knocked on Minato's door, my mission supplies slung over my shoulder.

He answered and stepped outside, obviously unhappy with me.

"You make Kushina-chan cry," he told me bluntly. That was one of the reasons I genuinely liked the kid. He said things as they were and expected everyone around him to do the same.

"I know. I want to apologize. May I please?"

He studied me for a long minute. "Kushina wasn't crying because you were mean."

I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Really?"

"She was angry you wouldn't tell her what is wrong."

"Well, it's all better now."

"Liar." Scratch that, his bluntness was one of the reasons I  _didn't_ like the kid.

"I have less than two hours to report for a mission on which I could be out of the village for several years. Please allow me to speak with my sister."

Finally, after some contemplation, he stepped aside. "I'm going for a walk. Kushina-chan is working on a project for Sensei, so she's real tired."

He opened the door for me and left. I entered the boy's familiar apartment and left my bag by the door.

"Kushina?" I called into the apartment.

"Nii-san?" She answered. After a second, she appeared from the main room/kitchen area. She gestured me towards her and vanished inside the room. I followed, dancing over the miscellaneous items scattered in the entryway.

Kushina sat in the center of the floor, a sealing array spread out in front of her. I sat down at her side and squinted at the seal. I wasn't great at sealing, but I knew more than the average ninja.

"Sensei gave me this seal to see if I could figure it out, but it's so complex that I can't figure it out. It's like there's a piece missing or someone took an entire layer out."

I had perused our personal library hundreds of times. While Kushina methodically worked her way through the library, I picked random topics that interested me and learned until I got bored. I had looked into several seals whose names sounded familiar, one of which was the Shiki Fūjin, or the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. I scowled as I recognized the array in front of me.

"You recognize it," she stated.

"Yeah, it's a suicide seal," I answered her. She jerked away from it. "It summons the Shinigami and you can seal practically anything, but in exchange it takes your soul."

"What's it called?"

"The Shiki Fūjin," I answered. "Your sensei should have never given you this, it's a forbidden jutsu and I don't know how he got his hands on it."

"Alright, I know more about seals than you, how did you solve this one before me?" She demanded, rolling the seal up.

"I saw it before in our library."

"Oh, I thought you said it was forbidden. Why did you look at it?"

"I didn't know it was forbidden at the time."

"Well, Sensei will be impressed, thanks."

"I'm sorry about what I said yesterday."

"It's alright, you were upset."

"No, it wasn't alright."

"So are you going to tell me what was really wrong?"

"How much did the ANBU tell you?"

"Not much, just that you argued with Hokage-sama and threatened to kidnap me if they sealed the Kyuubi into me, and you volunteered instead, so they sealed the Kyuubi inside of you that night, they didn't even give you time to come to terms with the fact you were going to become a Jinchuuriki."

"A bit more than that happened."

"I figured. Do you want to tell me?"

"No, I don't, but I should." I gathered my thoughts for a moment. "After everyone left, it was only me, Mito, and the Hokage. Before the Kyuubi even came up, I got into an argument with the Hokage and said some things that could be considered treasonous."

"It couldn't have been that bad, Nii-san," Kushina placated.

"I don't regret anything I said, but it had some pretty severe repercussions, but I'll get to that in a minute. It wasn't until after I had said my peace that the Kyuubi was brought up. They were going to choose you from the very beginning, though I'm not exactly sure why, especially considering I'm older and stronger because of it."

Kushina slipped her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly. I patted her on the head.

"I told them I'd defect and take you with me if they sealed it into you and offered myself as an alternative. It wasn't long after that Mito resealed the Kyuubi, but she added another seal."

Kushina interrupted with a loud curse.

"You're eight, you don't need to be cussing," I reprimanded.

"Yeah, yeah, you've been cussing since forever, which seal did she use?" Her arms tightened around me.

"I don't know exactly but—"

"Are the seals still visible?"

"Yes." I pulled off my gloves and showed her the seals on my hands.

"If Uzumaki Mito wasn't already dead, I would kill her," Kushina snarled as I put the gloves back on. "Yesterday you said the Hokage didn't care about you at all; the extra seal was his idea, wasn't it?"

"It was—" I barely managed to catch her around the waist as she tried to race out of the room. "As much as I hate him right now, you're not going to attempt to assassinate the Hokage."

She swung her fists in the direction of the Hokage tower as I used a tiny bit of chakra to attach myself to the floor when she tried to drag me out the door. I didn't let go until she had calmed down, which didn't take long.

Unfortunately, the second I let go of her, she decided I needed a hug. I landed on my back with an eight-year-old around my neck and I wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon. I awkwardly returned to patting her head.

"There's another thing I have to tell you," I said after a minute. Her arms tightened and I thought she was going to strangle me. "Choking!"

"Oh, sorry!" Her arms loosened just enough for me to breathe, but she made no indication she was going to get off. I knew better than to not let her have her way.

"I'm heading out to the war in a bit more than an—choking!"

This time, she didn't let go and I had to substitute myself with a pillow to wheeze in a few breaths. When she re-tackled me, she pinned my arms to my side, not that I needed my hands to do a substitution. "I don't want you to go out to the war! I've heard awful stories!"

"It is horrible, but I'm going to help people, not hurt them, alright?"

She seemed like she was going to let me go for a minute, but then her grip tightened and she buried her face in my chest. "I love you, Nii-san."

"I love you too, Kushina-chan," I responded. For the first time, I felt like I actually meant it. I sat up and pulled her next to me, my arm around her shoulders. I heard Minato's front door creak open as he quietly announced his presence. There were two other sets of footsteps with him, one adult and one child, though I could barely hear the adult's.

Minato turned the corner and we both stood up, though I didn't let go of Kushina. "Kichiro-nii, this is the rest of me and Kushina's Genin team. You already know Sensei, and our teammate is Shimizu Aoi, he's ten."

"Uzumaki Kichiro," I introduced myself politely.

"You're the bastard who beat up my Nii-san and killed his teammate."

There was a very awkward silence following that statement.

"Is insulting whomever you speak with a family trait?" I asked calmly.

Aoi glared at me.

"I guess you're consciously insulting then. For the record, your brother is a Tokubetsu Jōnin and I'm a Genin medic. Make it a lesson not to ever underestimate your opponent and to know your opponent can set traps as well. As for the teammate, he tried to kill the entire team, including your brother. He got what was coming to him."

"Kushina-chan, I don't like your brother," Aoi said bluntly.

"Nii-san, will you beat up the arrogant prick for me, please?" Kushina asked.

I frowned. "Since when have I beaten up a squirt for you?"

"You have to start somewhere."

"Why am I here?" Jiraiya demanded. "I know all of you brats already."

"Kichiro-nii is going to the warfront and I don't want him too," Minato answered. I was more curious as to know when Minato decided I was his brother as well.

"Well, I can't do anything about that, his team leader outranks me."

"Yeah, but you're the Hokage's student. He's got to listen to you."

Jiraiya shook his head. "Kid, as soon as I have the three of you trained up enough not to die, we're joining him. I'm sorry. Training starts at noon." He left and Aoi followed him. The moment the door closed, Minato fell to his knees in shock. Kushina went over to kneel beside him. I looked at Kushina, confused. Minato shouldn't have even been in a real fight before, much less have an idea how terrifying war could be.

"His parents were spies in Suna. They were caught and killed six years ago and the uncle he was living with died in the brief war with Suna afterwards."

"And the entire war lasted only ten days," I finished.

In my old life, I worked in the Army communications, but I only used that job title so no one freaked out when they saw me in uniform because I was actually a Casualty Notification Officer at the height of the Afghanistan war.

I knew firsthand how much damage a war could cause.

Kneeling down, I took Minato's hands in mine. "Listen, Minato, you're a Genin, Kushina is a Genin and Jiraiya is your team leader, right?"

He nodded.

"Your sensei is very strong, you know that, right?"

He nodded again.

"He'd never, ever let you die, right?"

Minato hesitated, but after a second, nodded.

"So you and Kushina are going to be fine." I concluded confidently. "It's going to be scary as hell; you're never going to forget the bodies you're going to see, the screaming and crying you're going to hear, the blood and rot and smoke you'll smell, the bile you'll taste when you experience all of this, and the physical pain. You're not going to want to forget it. War is a horrible thing, but it dishonors those who fight and die in it to forget them, to forget our war, both our allies and our enemies. I won't try and comfort you, because by the end of it, everything will be hollow words, nothing more than words." I took Kushina's hands as well. "People are going to die, some of them will be friends, but the two of you are going to stay together, you're both going to survive. You're going to survive this war, you're going to remember it, and you're going to come home and live in spite of it. I know it and I want you to promise me you'll live after it."

"But what about you?" Kushina asked. "Are you gonna survive and come back and live too?"

I looked down. "I don't know, but promise me you'll both come back and live."

"I promise." Minato looked up and smiled at me, resolved.

"I-I promise," Kushina echoed.

"I love you both. Goodbye."

At that, I stood up to leave and both kids jumped forward to hug me. After a minute, I pulled away and left, picking up my bag on the way out and not looking back.


	9. Chapter 9

I walked into the briefing room the second the clock reached reporting time. I would have been a few minutes early, but Hatake had decided that we would be briefed in the Jōnin briefing room and the security didn't believe I was supposed to be there until Dog came down to make sure I found the place.

"My brother really hates you, Uzumaki," Shimizu greeted, oddly amicable.

"I wonder whose fault that was," I responded sarcastically and took the only open seat as Hatake pushed himself off the wall and spread our mission scroll out on the table.

"Let's focus on the mission," Hatake interrupted Shimizu's response. I skimmed over the mission as Hatake pulled down a map of the shinobi nations. "As of this morning, Konoha is at war with all of the other shinobi nations, which means we are fighting a war on four major fronts. We are one of several groups who will be running to every front and determining who needs the most help, as well as providing temporary relief where it is needed, primarily through medical care." He looked directly at me. "Uzumaki, you have specific orders to conserve your chakra as much as possible, except when healing, and then you are to do everything you possibly can to enable our shinobi to return to the battlefield. For the most part, you will be partnered with Dog when we stop to assist and assess the situations. Shimizu, you will be interrogating whomever the teams have captured for information, which we will relay to the messenger teams. Inuzuka and I will be providing relief on the battlefront."

"Will I be healing on-field or on-base?"

"Both. You are currently the only one on this team who hasn't been truly tested in combat, recent events not in consideration. If something, anything, goes wrong or even takes a step in that direction, you are to pull out immediately. Every country is fighting on multiple fronts, but Konoha has four while the other countries have two at most, Kumo could potentially have three soon, but that isn't certain. The ability to put shinobi back in the field is what might be the only thing to ensure our survival, and to do that, we need medics."

I nodded.

"Verbal affirmation, Uzumaki."

Flushing with a bit of embarrassment, I spoke. "Orders acknowledged."

"The mission starts on the Suna front. We'll be moving in the basic diamond formation until we reach the yellow line." Hatake traced the line on the map. "Uzumaki, you will take the client position as our medic and a Genin. Dog, take rear. Shimizu, take left, and Inuzuka take point. I'll take right. After the yellow line, we'll be using the spearhead formation. Dog will take point and Uzumaki will take his tail. Shimizu, you'll be the right and Inuzuka will take left. I'll take the rear and stay about a hundred meters back. When we reach the red line, we'll start the sphere formation." He pointed on the map. "I'll take the ground, Uzumaki take top. Shimizu, Inuzuka, and Dog will be on rotation. Information is being severely compartmentalized, so only team leaders know where the border stations will be located. All except Uzumaki will have a basic disorientation Genjutsu placed on them by me at all times in order to keep these locations secret."

"Why will I have base locations and not the others?"

"First, the others can determine their location if we are separated and I drop the Genjutsu, you have not even been outside the village. Second, in case of separation, you return to last base visited at top speed and stop for no one, not even if I give you direct orders otherwise. When you arrive at base, you will deliver this to the team leader." He handed me a small, grey bead with a hole to lace onto my necklace that now had dog tags as well as my apartment keys on it. As I put it on my necklace, I noticed that the bead was actually white, but the tiny, black sealing lines turned it grey at a distance. "Upon taking it, the bead should turn red for a moment. If it does not, you are to run back to Konoha at top speed with every evasion tactic you know and head straight to the emergency returns. Take no chances."

"Acknowledged."

"Good. We all know the basic Jōnin identity confirmations, but we'll need individual confirmation as well. Request for confirmation will be Uzumaki's 'Genin' stance. Dog, you'll just sneeze, both for individual confirmation and request. Uzumaki, shift to your toes. Shimizu, switch to a reverse grip on your kunai. Inuzuka, shake your hair out of your eyes. I'll clap once. Is there anything else?"

"Kill or capture enemies?" Inuzuka asked.

"Capture if possible, kill if necessary. Uzumaki is trained in applying Fūinjutsu to prisoners. Shimizu will be conducting on-site interrogations."

I covered my mouth at the thought. I happened to be one of a half-dozen people in the village that showed any sort of interest in sealing and because of that, I was automatically in charge of nighttime security and all prisoners obtained. I didn't mind the former, it made me feel useful, but the latter made me sick to my stomach.

"Any other questions?" Hatake asked. When no one answered, he dismissed the team to rendezvous in ten minutes at deployment point six. "Uzumaki, remain."

They all filed out and Sakumo sat down beside me.

"You alright kid?"

I wanted to tell him to buzz off, but I knew it wouldn't be appropriate, not now.

"You've only been in this world for two years, Kichiro, you can't be fine with what you would consider torture and murder as well as knowing your sister will soon be participating in it even though she's only eight."

"Her and Minato were supposed to be ten when they graduated," I said. "Something changed because I'm here and I don't know what. This war is in the wrong place. I-I told them they would survive, I said they would be fine but I just don't know anymore."

"They'll be fine, I'm sure of it. You're the only Genin allowed beyond the yellow line."

"That's a death sentence and you know it. I may be on a team with three Jōnin, but I'm still a Genin who will be targeted first, simply because of my size."

"You may be a Genin now, but you can keep up with Chuunin twice your age. You may not have age and experience, but you have the skill and creativity to survive. Remember, just yesterday, you managed to beat Shimizu and you tricked the traitor. Trust me, by the end of this war, you'll be a Tokubetsu Jōnin at the very least."

I managed a tiny smile. "Aren't the Chuunin exams suspended during wartime?"

"Inter-village Chuunin exams are, but Konoha still has theirs, even if it's just to boost morale and provide a bit of entertainment. You won't be participating because you're so far beyond your Genin peers, I'll push your field promotion through as soon as I can. You're going to survive if I have anything to say about it."

"And if you don't have a say?"

Sakumo couldn't answer that. "Come on, we have a mission."

It was a good thing Hatake brought me to the rendezvous point, because I had absolutely no idea where to go.

I could feel my chakra reserves growing by the day our mission actually began. From the moment we reached the border, I was healing at least a dozen major injuries per day. While I wasn't specifically trained, I had no choice but to counter poisons in nearly every injury, at least for as long as we were on the Suna front. The handful of other medics I encountered on the Suna front had no idea what to do about it and dozens had died before I could reach them. Without the general knowledge of chemical compounds and bioweapons from my world, they all would have been sunk. Just like every boy with a passing interest in history, I had read countless books on WWI and WW2. After the Ebola outbreak, I had touched up on the science behind viruses, which led to a passing interest in poisons, that somehow turned towards venoms and immunities. With that knowledge, I figured out a way to simulate the production of antibodies and the creation of memory cells in the lymph nodes to create immunities.

After the first week of practice, I managed to figure out a way to immunize someone against the most common poisons, even if they'd never been hit with it. I wasn't sure if it would last more than a few months, or if I had even made the memory cells, but everyone assured me that every little bit helped.

I tried to teach the other medics how to do it, but quickly found out that while antidotes and antivenom were a thing, but no one knew how or why they worked, thus the development process was trial and error. The little fact quickly frustrated me and when I tried to explain the whole process to the sixth medic, I found that there just weren't the words to describe antigens and the process for making antibodies. Hell, I didn't even remember all the English words for it, I just got the gist of the process and used the magic chakra to speed it up, whether it be healing or artificial immunization. Inuzuka suggested that I write down as much as I could and they would find a way to get it back to Konoha for others to study and find a way to explain.

I felt a little bit guilty that I was stealing some of the renown Tsunade would gain in combating Suna, but not so much as to keep me from milking it when I could. Occasionally, I could be an S-ranked troll, and when the news of my existence started to reach the bases ahead of us, I managed to persuade Hatake to let me run to one of the nearby villages to buy some sort of trademark. After our second week on the Suna front, he let me. Accompanied by Dog, I made the dash and ducked into the first seamstress shop I found and ordered a haori. Frankly, it was a joke only I would get and probably would never become funny to anyone else, but it was a very effective way to keep my spirits up and help me pull out a smile to calm the people I healed.

The haori was a bright green with black flames around the hem and had 'medic' written in bold, black kanji down the back. Yes, it was the future Yondaime Hokage's signature haori with a new color scheme and it cracked me up every time I saw it from the back. Shimizu thought I was insane, Inuzuka and Dog ignored the quirk, and Hatake would send me looks that demanded an explanation as soon as we were somewhere secure.

Maybe because it was earlier in the war, maybe because that front of the war was better off, but things got much darker once we hit the Iwa front. On the Suna front, most injuries were minor, if severely exacerbated by poison. In the Iwa front, there was a triage system and the ground permanently stained with blood. Losing patients didn't bother me because I knew every person I helped would have been worse off anyways. Across the entire Iwa front, most of the sleep I received was when we traveled between the camps. Generally, I rode on Dog, but occasionally, Hatake would carry me on his back. I objected to the rides at first, but quickly discovered that I just couldn't keep up with the speed we needed to travel.

Shimizu generally dealt with defenses around the camps while Hatake and Inuzuka provided relief on the battlefront and Dog accompanied me. Periodically, Hatake forced the team into mandatory rest times. Even though I was almost entirely sure Hatake knew, he didn't say anything when I snuck out to help those in the triage who were placed in the category of being too far gone to be worth helping. In total, I only managed to actually save about twenty of nearly a hundred I attempted to save, the rest, I did my best to ease their pain. It wasn't until we were nearly to the Kumo front when I noticed Hatake following me when I snuck out in the middle of rest times.

The front with Kumo was an offensive operation instead of defensive, so on the Kumo front, the team was effectively operating in enemy territory and the injuries were much less severe. The Kiri front was the same. By the time we finished the mission, it had been nearly five months and Hatake brought us back to Konoha at top speed. He dismissed the team once we passed the gate, but made sure to bring me to the door of my apartment.

He left to report to the Hokage.

On the small table, there was a note from Kushina saying she had been on a mission for the past few days and was due back within the next few days. There was also about two more pages summarizing what had been going on for the months I was gone, but I was too exhausted to read them. Until the apartment door closed behind me, I didn't realize how much the paranoia of a potential attack at any second was effecting me. My mission pack fell someplace in the kitchen area and I collapsed on my bed without even taking off my shoes. I was asleep in seconds.

(-_-)

What seemed like ten seconds later, I was awoken by the distinct urge to eat something and relieve myself. I made several packages of only food in the apartment, ramen, relieved myself, showered, then collapsed back on the bed. This cycle repeated twice before someone banged loudly on the door. I was still so exhausted I could barely walk straight, so it took me far longer than I would have liked to open the door.

"You're supposed to report to the hospital within twenty-four hours of returning from a mission, kid, you haven't been seen for thirty-six. What happened?" Sakumo asked, more than a little worried.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "Sandman did hi' job prop'ly 'or once." I had spent at least two-thirds of the mission staving off sleep with the jutsu I had decided to never share unless absolutely necessary.

"Sandman? Kichiro, was someone in your apartment?" Sakumo's voice gained a panicked edge.

"Not th' I know o'," I responded.

"Who's Sandman?"

"Myth'cal 'ude who 'elps people slee' an' sen's goo' 'reams." I listed to one side and after a delayed wondering of why I didn't fall, I realized I was leaning against the wall, while Sakumo did a security check on my apartment.

I yelped when Sakumo sent a jolt of chakra into my body to dispel a nonexistent Genjutsu.

"No' cool, man, no' cool," I grumbled.

"Security code, now."

I rolled my eyes and rattled off the code.

"Who or what is Sandman?"

"A story."

I was sure Sakumo was shaking his head at me. "Come on, you have a physical you should have been at this morning."

"'M coming." I stumbled forward, but Sakumo stopped me.

"It may be nearly spring, but you still need more than a pair of shorts if you don't want to catch a chill."

I didn't even have the mental faculties to flush in embarrassment. When it took me too long to stagger across the room, Sakumo snagged a shirt from the floor somewhere and pulled it over my head, followed by strapping the closest pair of shoes, my civilian sandals, on my feet. I wasn't working at the hospital so there wasn't a basic dress code for me to follow. About a quarter of the way there, I stopped abruptly.

"I look like a civilian," I said.

"Yes, you do."

"The seals—"

"Kichiro, let's just get you to the hospital. Since everyone knows you're a shinobi, a few seals will be fine." Sakumo put a hand on my back and guided me forward.

"Wait, why'm I goin' to the ho'pital, 'm not hurt." I dug my heels into the ground.

"You were just on an extended, foreign mission and someone needs to make sure you're not sick in any way, it's procedure."

"Okay."

"Nii-san? Nii-san! Nii-san!" Kushina's voice rose above the murmur of the streets. A moment later, a blur of red collided with me and it was only Sakumo's support that kept me from cracking my head on the cobblestones. "Is it true? Is what Tsunade-nee-chan said true? Are you as big of a hero as they say you are? Did you really show all the medic nin how to stop all of Suna's poisons? Did you? Did you?"

"Let him go, Kushina-chan. He's only got back from an extremely exhausting mission yesterday that had me laid up for nearly as long as he's been," Sakumo said as my knees started to buckle and I wondered how I managed to run at top speed all the way from the Kiri border if I was still this exhausted a-day-and-a-half later.

"Then why isn't he sleeping?" She challenged, pulling back and putting my arm around her shoulders. I was rather annoyed that she had grown at least two inches, judging by the fact that she now seemed taller than me, but that was probably because I wasn't exactly sure I was upright.

"He needs to go to the hospital first."

"Did he get hurt? Why didn't you go to the hospital sooner?"

"He's fine, it's just procedure after a mission in enemy territory."

"You went across the lines!" She squawked. Just like that, I felt like I was flying as Kushina lifted me onto her back and took off. I'm sure I fell back asleep on the way, because I didn't wake up until someone else laid me on a bed.

I jerked my arm out of their grip and tumbled off the bed, landing on someone who grunted. I quickly rolled off them and struggled to focus on the redhead in front of me.

"Nii-san? You alright?" The girl asked as I blinked.

"He'll be fine, just exhausted as far as I can tell," someone else, a woman, soothed. "Come on, kiddo, up on the bed. Sakumo should have brought you straight to the hospital with your level of exhaustion." A strong hand grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet and I clutched at the wrist for balance as the world started to spin and a splitting headache clawed its way to the forefront of my mind.

"Too long isolating adenosine and melatonin buildup and stimulating epinephrine production." I mumbled, one of my knees giving out.

"I only understood half of that, kiddo," she responded kindly as she laid me back down on the bed. I blinked up at the woman leaning over me, her hand over my forehead, the green glow turning the rest of the room odd colors.

"I 'member you, you're Tsunade."

"That's Tsunade-sama to you, twerp." Her voice gained a bit of an edge. "I know you've been messing with your own body and it doesn't look like experimentation so what the hell are you doing and how do I fix it?"

"Can't fix, 'm fine, just need to sleep it off. I played with adenosine and melatonin for too long an' now 'm paying for it. Just need fluids and calories. Can I sleep?"

"Fine, I'll give you an IV, but you better have answers for me when you wake up."

"Mm." As she pulled her hand away from my forehead, I let myself just fall back asleep.

(-_-)

When I woke up actually rested and somewhat refreshed, if lethargic, a note on the table beside me said it had been slightly less than two days since I arrived in the hospital. It also contained orders to open the room for someone who needed it and report to Tsunade. I ripped out the IV and quickly healed it before I dripped blood on anything other than my shirt.

In five minutes, I had prepped the room for whomever would need it next and signed it open at the end of the hall.

Ten minutes later, I managed to locate Tsunade in the shinobi medic breakroom. She sat in the corner on one of the sofas, her head in her hands.

I knocked softly on the door. "Tsunade?"

"Adenosine and melatonin. Mind explaining?" She patted the cushion beside her. I sat down in one of the chair a few meters away, just to be contrary. I felt strange without my fighting sticks, but it was a comfortable strange. "It's not in any book you've read and I've been keeping a close eye on you since you started training."

"No, it's, um, something I made up?"

"Really." She stated, finally looking at me. "I don't take bullshit from anyone, what makes you think I'll swallow yours."

I tried a different approach. "Adenosine and melatonin are chemicals in the brain which build throughout the day and causes tiredness and helps facilitate sleep. I wanted to figure out a way to stave off exhaustion, so I did. The only problem is that adenosine is generally broken down during sleep and after staving it off for however many months I was on mission, it took a very, very long time to break down and I didn't realize that until a few days ago because I had only used it once to hold off sleep for a few hours. Before you ask, I'm not teaching the technique to anyone else because it's so easily abused and no one else has both the pure-blooded Uzumaki vitality as well as medical experience to fall back on if something goes wrong."

Tsunade was very unhappy about that last little bit. "You're withholding information from a superior."

"I practically went into a coma afterwards for almost four full days, think about how many people, who don't have the famous Uzumaki resilience, could end up dying after the war is over if I release this technique."

"I'm not angry about your refusal to share, I'm angry you attempted a new medical technique without supervision."

"I know what I'm doing."

"You're just a kid—"

"You never learn anything useful by playing it safe."

"You sound like Orochimaru."

"Don't compare me to that creep," I spat.

After a long silence, Tsunade decided to ignore my outburst.

"No more unsanctioned experiments, got it?"

"I'm not going to make a promise like that. I've already been bitten once and I learned my lesson when dealing with  _him_."

"Who?"

"The Hokage." I stood up and left while she was still reeling in shock.

I made my way back to my apartment first to clean up the mess I probably left when I came back from my mission. When I unlocked and opened the door, I found Kushina had already cleaned up and was sitting at the table contemplating the dregs of her instant ramen and cementing my opinion that kids were entirely incapable of feeding themselves, no matter hypocritical that sounded. I picked up the cup, noting that it had long ago turned cold, and dumped the thing in the trash. I guessed it to be sometime around dinner. I was about to suggest we go somewhere nice to eat when I noticed my freshly-washed haori on the table as the focus of Kushina's gaze. I waved my hand in front of her face since she didn't seem to have noticed me cleaning up her ramen.

"Sensei had to bring us to the warfront with Iwa about a month after you left."

I was not expecting her to say that.

"He didn't want to, but there was an emergency and we were too close to the red line for him to send us back alone."

I squatted beside her, a hand on her knee.

"He left us at the base while he went to fight, but while he was gone, Iwa found out we, his Genin team, were nearby so they came after us. They destroyed the base. Minato and I got out because one of the Chuunin had taken us out to teach us how to patrol. Aoi was all arrogant and said he already knew how; his big brother was a Tokubetsu Jōnin, his team's security expert, and had taught him everything."

I knew exactly what camp she was talking about. I had reached it a few days after it had been destroyed. Only a handful of shinobi had escaped. Our team had stayed there for over a week until reinforcements had arrived.

"Aoi was on the base and they took him hostage to try and force Sensei to surrender. He was about to give up to save Aoi, but Orochimaru-baka arrived and wouldn't let him. They argued and it was terrifying. The next day, they sent Aoi back. On-on one side of head, his hair was dyed red and on the other it was yellow. His eyes had been ripped out, his tongue cut out, his nails torn off. Most of the skin on his body had been removed one way or another. His fingers, elbows, knees, ankles, and toes were all shattered beyond repair. His face was almost entirely burned away; we wouldn't have recognized him if we hadn't known who we were looking for. The worst part was that he was still alive."

I pressed my fist over my mouth, sickened.

"Sensei wanted to bring him back to Konoha so Tsunade could save him, but he wouldn't have survived the trip. One of the messenger Chuunin said that there was someone, a boy in a green haori, on their way who had the best chance of saving him if we left him at the base, slim as that chance was. We didn't have a choice. Sensei needed to join the rest of his team. I wanted to stay at the camp and help them rebuild, but Sensei sent us back with the next group that brought supplies. They brought us here and Minato and I have been doing every mission we could without a Jōnin-sensei ever since."

I remembered the base and the boy they had asked if I could heal. I hadn't recognized Aoi, nor had the rest of the team. If his brother recognized him, he never showed any sign. Names and team affiliations were extremely compartmentalized, especially the names of anyone associated with any high-profile Jōnin. None of the bases we came across were given my name, rank, or personal information besides my appearance, even though many of the people we came across knew it anyways, they didn't show it. Sakumo was too well-known and I was the perfect hostage, both to control him and to control the entire village. It was a show of silent comradeship to preserve the identities of fellow Konoha ninja.

I remembered exactly who Kushina was talking about. His hair had turned a disgusting orange from when someone tried to wash out the dye. It was obvious he had been a prisoner. I tried to save him, but his body went into shock as soon had I had managed to patch up the internal hemorrhaging to begin a surgery focused on removing the blood filling his chest cavity that was keeping him from breathing properly as well as his heart from steadily beating. I could have easily dealt with both the shock and the subsequent heart failure, I had plenty of chakra, but the dehydration from the burns and lack of skin killed the boy before I could do anything about it. Not that I could have done anything in the first place, at least not without hospital equipment.

Kushina continued. "You were the medic who singlehandedly doubled the standing force on the Suna front just by healing those who were poisoned and stopping a lot of the poisons from hurting them again. You were the only medic who had any chance of saving Aoi. You're the person they're calling the Spirit of the Triage."

I had heard the name they had taken to calling me. Just like my haori, it made me smile every time I heard it, mostly because I had liked historical stories in my old world and even though the titles had nothing in common, I had gotten the name similar to how Florence Nightingale was dubbed the 'The Lady with the Lamp.' It was more common for me to spend several night in a row healing and get a few hours of sleep while being carried on a teammate's back to the next base.

We had stopped for the night at a civilian village somewhere near the Valley of the End when I first heard the name. I managed to choke down a laugh and immediately dashed to our rooms and collapsed into hysterics. Sakumo followed and was more than a little concerned for my sanity until I told him what I found so funny about the name. He didn't find it funny, but he rolled his eyes and let me have my laugh.

Finally, Kushina asked the question that I had been expecting. "Did you manage to save Aoi?"

"No," I responded. "I didn't know it was him until you told me what happened to him, but I tried to save him. As soon as I stepped on the base they brought me to him. I almost saved him, I think I could have, but I didn't have the hospital equipment I needed or anyone to help. But that's what most of the losses come down to now, there just isn't  _enough_."

"It's okay, I know you did everything you could. Thank you for trying, Nii-san."

I let the silence stretch on.

"Did you have to fight?" She asked in a small voice.

"A few times."

"Did you have to kill?"

"Y-yes."

She looked away from me and laid her head on the table. "What did it feel like?"

I frowned. That wasn't a question Kushina would ever ask and she didn't even sound like she wanted an answer. A heartbeat later, I flinched. "It felt wrong, but not. The first time, I was too scared to fight. He was a teenager, no more than five years older than me, a new Chuunin at best, on a Jōnin team just like mine. He was from Suna and his team had somehow made it past the border. We weren't sure how. He was twirling a kunai around his finger, taunting me. I kept tripping backwards until he used some earth release to trap me against a wall, I didn't draw my weapons. He was about to tear my throat out when he stopped. He recognized me as an Uzumaki. He recognized me as the person who managed to counter some of their poisons. He swore my death would be as slow and painful as possible. I didn't want to die. I couldn't die. There were people who needed my help. He slashed at my stomach. I blocked and shattered his knee with one of my sticks. He screamed as he landed on that knee and then I broke one of his wrists. I dropped my sticks, grabbed the back of his head and bashed his face in against my knee. He was dead before my sticks hit the ground."

"A bunch of bandits were desperate when Minato and I were delivering supplies to the yellow line last week. They came out of nowhere. I-I don't really remember exactly what happened, just that by the end of the attack, there were eight of them dead and we had killed four each."

There was something else she wanted to say, I just knew it, so I waited.

"I didn't feel anything. We just left their bodies to burn and finished the mission."

I wasn't surprised. She had spent two years in the Academy being conditioned to kill without remorse.

"That's wrong, isn't it?"

It wasn't her fault she was trained that way. "You're the one who has to decide that."

"You think it's wrong, right, Nii-san?"

"I think murder is wrong. They attacked first, so it was self-defense. Maybe you took it too far, but that is most certainly not your fault. The Academy and your sensei trained you to kill and you did exactly what was expected of you. Now, let's go find somewhere to have a nice dinner because I feel like I haven't had real food in over a year."

"Sure."

Kushina wrapped her arms around my waist. When we stepped out of the door, I jumped in surprise as I noticed Arata leaning against the wall holding a corpse scroll.

"So my little brother is really dead and I just stood there. I thought it was him, but I spent the entire time thinking it might not have been. He was a Genin. He wasn't supposed to be allowed beyond the red line and he couldn't have gotten good enough to be a Chuunin yet, not on his team."

"I'm sorry I couldn't save him."

"Don't be. He was dead before you even reached him. Hatake sent me to bring you this." Arata handed me a cloth bag. "Congratulations, you're a Chuunin now, you've been a Chuunin for awhile, that's your uniform. Report to the briefing rooms tomorrow at sunrise. We have another mission." He vanished. I glanced in the bag and saw a Chuunin vest and a wad of black cloth before turning back to Kushina.

"We still have time for dinner, right? And you'll visit Minato-kun with me?"

I tossed the bag inside and gave her a tight hug. "Of course."


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, Kushina had tried to insist that I wear my haori, but when I explained that I didn't want the village to know who I was, she didn't argue the point. I walked her to where she was meeting Minato for their daily missions before dashing across the rooftops to the briefing room.

"Uzumaki, you're late." Hatake snapped as I hurried inside. I was only a few seconds late.

"Inuzuka and Dog aren't here," I retorted.

"They've already been briefed and are collecting the explosives we'll need." Hatake pulled down the map and provided a visual of our path. "Our team is going to go through Ame and strike directly at the Iwa border posts."

A bad feeling settled in my gut. "What about Hanzō?"

"We're going to have to get past his troops. Ame has attempted to remain neutral in this conflict, but Iwa, Konoha, and Suna have been encroaching on their land. Some shinobi make it out, some don't. This is an A-ranked mission."

"I've been a Chuunin for less than twenty-four hours and I have one completed mission, how the hell am I assigned to something like this?"

"You've been a Chuunin for almost four months, Uzumaki, and you're qualified as a battle medic. Most shinobi would kill for your luck."

I settled down, unhappy. If I had a choice, I would just repeat my last mission. I felt like I was doing something useful. With this mission, I felt like I was only going to hurt people.

Hatake tossed a Bingo Book at me and one at Shimizu. "Newest issue. Uzumaki, you're in there right beside Tsunade-hime, good job. Shimizu, you're still in the clear for infiltration work and after this mission, we're all being reassigned to different teams. We are going to be going in blind to this mission, so let's all make it back, okay? Rendezvous at point three, ten minutes. Uzumaki, with me."

Shimizu left quickly.

"Uzumaki, where's your haori?"

"In my bag. I don't want to wear it in the village."

"From now on, you're to wear it everywhere, especially when you're on-duty. I'm telling this to you as your sensei, not an officer. As your superior, I'm ordering you to start holding your tongue when it comes to your anger at the Hokage. As a fellow shinobi, I'm advising you to wear your hitai-ate normally. Everyone knows you're an Uzumaki now and the best way to protect your sister is to make sure you're the one who's most easily targeted, not her. I talked with her sensei and until she can defend herself properly, she'll be wearing a hood whenever she leaves the village."

He grabbed my arm by the sleeve, which nearly covered my entire hand. They didn't make Chuunin uniforms for kids who should have been Genin, though they did make ANBU uniforms, which I found to be a little annoying. He pulled out four strips of white cloth and used it to tie my sleeve just above my elbow and around my wrist so it didn't fall over my hands and hinder my dexterity. As I pulled on the haori, I felt like a miniature rip-off of the future Yondaime. I snickered.

"Alright, what is so funny about this haori?" Sakumo demanded. "You've been dodging the question for months now."

I couldn't help it, I busted out in uncontrollable laughter.

He was not amused.

"Fine, ha, the future Yondaime wore a white haori in this style with red flames and his title down the back. I totally ripped him off."

"I still don't see what's funny."

"Ha, I stole the style of the man who defeated the Kyuubi. Not only will there be no Kyuubi for him to defeat, but he'll be stuck in those ugly Hokage robes. The best part is that no one else gets it!" I switched the bandanna-style of my hitai-ate to the standard style and let my bangs flop over it. Thankfully they weren't too long to get in my eyes, though the rest of my hair was raggedly cut just below my chin. On the previous mission, I had discovered why styles from my world were rare among shinobi. Scissors were not a very common item on missions and kunai were the preferred hair-cutting instrument. Understandably, that made longer cuts easier and more common.

"Ever thought that you might end up being the Yondaime?"

"Like hell the old codger would hand me his hat, not after the stunt I pulled going after the kidnapping and then challenging him like I did. Give it about twelve years and you'll know exactly who the Yondaime will be."

"Don't think you can get strong enough?"

"Sure, I could, but I don't want to be Hokage, just strong enough that I can do whatever the hell I want and no one can tell me otherwise. Don't we have a mission to head out on?"

Sakumo slapped the back of my head.

(-_-)

I don't know if it was luck or skill that made the mission go smoothly. We managed to destroy three of Iwa's bases with a rather impressive array of explosives, not that I did any of the detonating. I hid about a kilometer away and enjoyed the show. At least, I enjoyed it as much as I could. Explosions were always cool, but explosions with bodies flying from the wreckage were much less so. When we crossed back into Ame, the trouble started. Within a day, we had fought three different Ame teams. The first two, we defeated, but the third literally caught us napping. If Shimizu hadn't noticed the Genjutsu at the last minute, we would have been slaughtered. Hatake barely had a chance to bark out orders for me to head back to base without them, which I ignored in favor of knocking out his opponent from behind. We were forced to flee and lost most of our supplies in the process. Because of it, Hatake split the team.

If we did happen to chance across any food, there was a small chance it would be able feed us all and smaller groups could travel without detection easier than a larger group. Hatake and I split off and took the longer route back. At the Ame-Konoha border, we chanced upon the remnants of a village.

"There might be leftover food in one of these houses," I suggested. For some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu. "Watch my back?"

"Go ahead." Cautiously, we entered the largest of the houses and made a beeline for the kitchen. I opened the cupboards looking for something. "Someone's been here recently, I can smell them and blood."

"Shinobi?"

"You can't identify shinobi by smell, Uzumaki. Civilian blood smells exactly the same. I don't think they're here now."

"I'll check the house to be sure." I wandered through the house, peering cautiously into rooms, my sticks in my hands and chakra in my feet in case of a surprise. I expected a trap. What I didn't expect was to have a pair of violet eyes staring at me out of the darkness. I raised my sticks defensively.

"Ise, it's him, it's Ryuunosuke's child!" A woman breathed. The eyes looked away for a moment.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded. Hatake silently appeared just out of their sight and I forced myself not to look.

"I'm Uzumaki Fusō, civilian," the woman slowly put her hands out where I could see them then stepped forward into the light. "I was friends with your mother, Midori, before she died. The last time I saw her, you were just a newborn, Kichiro."

"And my father's name?"

"Uzumaki," Hatake growled in warning.

"Ryuunosuke."

I lowered my sticks and put them away.

"Did they survive the massacre? If you're here, they must have gotten you out!"

"They both died long before the massacre."

"You poor thing—" She stepped forward, her arms out, but stopped abruptly when Hatake held a blade to her throat before she could reach me.

"Let her go," I told him. "Not even Kushina knows the names of our parents."

"How can you be sure your clan records weren't stolen by Kiri?"

"Because only an Uzumaki could get into the record scrolls. They're sealed shut," Fusō answered.

I nodded, though it wasn't the answer I was going to give.

"Who else is with you?" Hatake asked, not lowering the blade.

"Just my husband and son."

"Bring them out."

I had to hide my shock as a redheaded man rose slowly from the shadows with a boy hiding behind his leg. There was no mistaking Nagato.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm a doctor and my wife is a nurse. We were passing though this village looking for survivors when we stopped here for a few days."

"Uzumaki," Sakumo gestured towards them.

"I'm a medic-nin. May I see your hands so I can confirm you're not shinobi I order to satisfy my paranoid teammate? It won't hurt, I promise."

They each held out a hand to me. Mine glowed green as it wrapped around each of their wrists in turn. All adult Uzumaki could use seals even if they weren't a shinobi. Their chakra systems were active, but barely anywhere near the levels of a Genin. They were clearly civilians.

"Check the boy too," Hatake ordered.

I rolled my eyes and knelt, holding my hand out to Nagato. Very slowly, he placed his hand in mine.

While travelling across the warfronts I had encountered plenty of Uchiha and Hyuuga. Their chakra had a distinctive twist to it around their eyes, as well as the structural differences. Nagato's had a similar twist around his, but it was obviously dormant and his chakra levels were nearly Genin level, though also dormant.

"They're all Uzumaki civilians," I told Hatake. "Now let her go. They are who they say they are."

Slowly, he put away his kunai and Fusō put her arm around my shoulders. "Your mother would be extremely proud of you, Kichiro. Though probably not very happy you're not eating your vegetables. You're scrawny!"

"How the hell would you know I don't eat vegetables?"

"Your father hated them and you're his spitting image, right down to the language," Ise replied, picking up Nagato.

"Uzumaki, a word," Hatake said sharply.

"Hai!" I responded. "Would you mind waiting in the kitchen?"

When we were sure they were in the kitchen, Hatake turned on me. "You know better than to behave like that in enemy territory!"

"We have to bring them back to Konoha. At least, we have to bring the boy."

"What has gotten into you?"

"The boy has a dormant Rinnegan."

"That's a myth."

"Remember when we first met and I told you who I really was? Well that boy in there grew up to flatten Konoha."

"The masked man?"

"No, he singlehandedly destroyed the entire village with one jutsu about sixteen years after the Kyuubi attack. It all started because two Konoha shinobi came into the house, exactly like us, looking for food, except his parents fought and died to give him a chance to run. We bring them back to Konoha now, the plans of the man pulling the strings fall apart."

"You're asking me to bring three foreign civilians back to Konoha."

"You don't have to be responsible, but I'm bringing them back."

"You're already on thin ice, kid."

"What do you expect me to do?" I shouted at him. "Leave part of my family in the middle of a warzone when I can save them? I can't stay to protect them! The minute the Hokage hears about it he'll drag my ass back to Konoha and I won't see the light of day until he's dead!"

"Then what are you going to tell him?" Hatake demanded loudly.

"Whatever he asks for. It's not like I am still physically capable of lying to him."

"You'll get in trouble—"

"Since when has that ever stopped—"

"You won't be dealing with me, boy."

"No, I won't, I'll be dealing with a man who will free me by betrayal."

"You're in over your head."

"So much for hiding away in some obscure village, right?"

"Hide  _them_  away in an obscure village, bring them back after the war."

"No, we bring them to Konoha or I stay with them and see what comes."

"I could drag you back."

"You'd never fight me like that."

"Fine, on your head be it. This is going to blow up in your face."

"I know." I turned on my heel and marched out.

"Everything alright?" Fusō asked when I walked in.

I leaned on the table that the small family sat around and Hatake stood just inside the door, arms crossed. "When I left Uzu during the massacre, I escaped with eight others. That I'm aware of, no one else made it off the island alive. I can bring any or all of you back to Konoha, if you want. I won't make you, but I want you to come back, even though I can't promise you anything other than a place to live and food to eat."

The two adults exchanged a glance. "Hanzō is already after us," Ise said in a low voice.

Fusō looked down at Nagato, who slept on her shoulder.

"We might not get another chance."

"We're helping people, Ise."

"We can help people in Konoha as well. There's always a need for doctors and nurses."

"We came here—"

"We have a son to think about now. If Hanzō catches us, he'll kill Nagato as well."

"What if we send him—"

"Kichiro can't take care of a kid, shinobi or not, he's still a child himself."

"I take care of my sister just fine. She's still alive, isn't she?" They ignored me.

Fusō's arms tightened around Nagato. "What happened to the other children you escaped with?"

"They're living in a civilian orphanage and my sister lives with me."

"Those children need a family, Fusō. We don't have anything left here."

They debated silently until Fusō turned to me. "We'll come with you, but only if It won't cause you problems with the Hokage. We could hear your argument."

"You can't do anything to change my problem with the Hokage, for better or worse."

"You said you have a sister?"

I nodded. "She's the one you should be harping on about not eating vegetables."

"Now that's settled, we need to get moving. There's about a month left before Uzumaki and I need to report back to Konoha and we won't be able to afford to stop very often if we're going to make it at a civilian pace," Hatake said sharply.

"Roads are for people with no imagination," Fusō smiled at him. "We'll make it in plenty of time."

And we did. As soon as we reached the signature Konoha trees, Ise leapt into the treetops and stood upside down.

"We may not be able to move as fast as shinobi, but we can travel much faster than civilians," he explained.

Hatake glared at me.

"Uzumaki have a very different definition of 'civilian'," I answered, scowling. Travelling alone, it would have taken me a week to reach Konoha. Fusō and Ise managed to make it back in two weeks and I carried Nagato the entire way.

As we ran, Fusō and Ise bombarded me with questions about myself, everything I knew about sealing, my sister and the other orphans, my rank, what I liked and disliked about being a shinobi, how long I'd been a shinobi, why I chose to be one, and any other topic that crossed their minds. The two of them were smart and I had a feeling they picked up more from my answers than I wanted them to. Sakumo kept his distance.

"How is Mito? I barely remember her from when I was a child but she always used to visit during the summer."

"She's dead," I answered bluntly. Ise dropped the firewood he was gathering. Fusō's grip tightened around my wrist.

"That means you—" Ise broke off.

"You poor thing!" Fusō cried. She hugged me tightly and the questions turned in an entirely different direction. Eventually, Ise struck up a debate with me over medicine and different treatments. She sits beside me as I fall asleep that night, gently rubbing my back.

They didn't press whenever I refused to answer a question, which I was thankful for.

As we passed through the main gates, I steeled myself, ignoring the alarmed looks as two ANBU landed on either side of me and one behind them. I tightened my grip on Nagato and we ran across the rooftops to the Hokage tower.


	11. Chapter 11

Normally, teammates were required to report in a group, but given the fact that Hatake and I arrived separate from our teammates and with an entourage of which it was obvious I was responsible, everyone reported separately. While Nagato's family waited in the hall, my hands deep in my pockets. I wasn't surprised when it took Hatake an entire hour to report, considering he had a lot of explaining to do, but I was annoyed at the wait. When he finally exited with his mouth set in a grim line, I started to wonder if I bit off more than I wanted to.

I pushed myself off the wall and entered the office without a word. Deciding that it couldn't get much worse than it already was, I sat down in one of the chairs without invitation or acknowledging the Hokage glaring at me across his desk.

"ANBU, you're dismissed."

After a moment, the Hokage stood up and locked the door, then activated several privacy seals. After a minute, he returned to his desk.

"Are you aware of Konoha's policy on foreigners?"

"Not exactly, but I know Konoha's policy on the Uzumaki clan very well. They'll be able to prove their identity with a simple blood test, you can scan their chakra, or ask them questions. They are who they say they are."

"Konoha does not accept shinobi during wartime!" He snapped.

"They're civilians!"

"The two adults have active chakra networks."

"They're Uzumaki! All of them were able to use seals, which require an active chakra network."

"They know Fūinjutsu?"

"Obviously," I snapped.

"Then they may stay as soon as their identity is confirmed."

I scowled. "I confirmed their identity. May I leave?"

"No. I asked Hatake-san several questions, to which he told me only you can answer."

"Can and will are two entirely separate things."

"You  _will_  answer my questions."

I could feel his will pressing against mine. I pulled my hands out of my pockets and broke eye contact, staring at a plant tucked away in the corner instead, and pushed back. The Hokage was at least a decade older than me before I found myself here as well as ten times stronger, so I knew it was a losing battle to begin with, but my pride would never let me just give in.

"Report," he ordered.

I had no problem with that. I started where we left the village, and quickly summarized the actual mission.

"We stopped at a house to look for some food, found Nagato's family, I confirmed their identity, offered to bring them here, they accepted, we came back and here I am," I finished.

He was not happy with that report but I was going to make getting the details harder than pulling weasel teeth.

"How did you find the family?"

"Hiding in the shadows."

"Who did you see first?"

"Fusō-san."

"Did you recognize them first or did they recognize you."

"They recognized me."

"How?"

"According to them, I look and talk exactly like my father."

"How did you confirm their identity?"

"They told me the names of both of my parents."

"That's hardly a confirmation of identity."

"Is it? Do you know their names?"

His eye twitches.

"Exactly."

"Hatake-san mentioned you knew the exact whereabouts of your official clan records. Where are they?"

"What's left of them are scattered around training ground four. I burned them." I also made a copy and that copy was sealed into the floorboards beneath my mattress, but he only asked for the official records.

"How did you obtain these records?"

"A prank on the clan library a few hours before the massacre."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why didn't you turn them into the village?"

"I didn't want to. I had no reason to. No one asked if I had them. No one told me to turn them in." Who knew pissing off a Kage could be so much fun? I was definitely going to help the next person who wanted to deface the Hokage monument.

"Did you obtain access to anything else as a result this prank?"

I could feel him trying to force me to answer, but there was no actual compulsion to do so, so I remained silent, smirking.

To my surprise, he moved on, asking questions about every detail I could remember. I gave him answers in as few words as possible, rarely using a complete sentence.

"Did you notice anything strange when you examined their chakra?"

"No," I answered. Before I finished the word, the seal in the center of my chest exploded, flooding my body with pure, indescribable pain. The next thing I knew I was on the floor curled into the fetal position. I quickly wiped the tears from my face and sat up as the Hokage crouched beside me.

"Let's try that again, shall we? Did you notice anything strange when you examined their chakra?"

"Yes!" I gasped out.

"What did you notice?"

I jerked away as he touched my shoulder. "Someone transplanted a dormant Dōjutsu into the boy."

"Now we're getting somewhere. What Dōjutsu?"

"The Rinnegan."

"Do you have any idea of the original owner of this Dōjutsu?"

I clamped my mouth shut. After a few seconds where I had no intention of answering, the pain returned and it felt worse than before. When it was over, I didn't even bother sitting up. My hitai-ate was clutched in my fist, reflecting the sun into my eyes. I threw it at him. He caught it easily.

"Why don't you want to tell me?" He asked, offering a glass of water. "You have no problem telling Hatake-san."

"I trust him. I don't trust you." I snarled, but the effect was lost considering I was refusing to look at him and lying curled on the ground. "And he waits for the whole story before he does anything."

The Hokage placed the glass of water on the desk. "Whether you accept it or not, I am deeply sorry for the Shitagau." He pressed two fingers against the seal on my forehead. It was good to know the god-awful seal had a name. "I sincerely regret that I cannot find it in myself to trust you enough to release the seal."

I snarled at him.

"From where I'm standing, my order was morally wrong, but it was not a mistake. I may not have given you any reason to trust me and given evidence to mistrust, but you gave me every reason to mistrust you and no reason to trust as well. You're intelligent enough to understand that."

"It does not justify taking away my free will!" I hissed. "How the hell can you trust if you've never tried? How arrogant can you be to expect every single person to be utterly enthralled by your 'God of Shinobi' persona? How insecure are you in yourself and your abilities that a few words spoken out of desperation from a nine-year-old, a day-old  _Genin_ , could justify  _enslavement to your personal whim_?"

The Hokage stared at the floor for a long time before grabbing my arm with both hands and pulling me to my feet. I stood shakily and clutched the desk for support with my free hand. "Obviously, you know many things you should not and are much more intelligent and mature than your age suggests. Hatake-san trusts you enough to leave your secrets lie. For now, I will respect his decision, but I will not release the seal."

I moved to leave the same way I entered: without acknowledging him. As I walked past he laid a hand on my shoulder holding me in place. Without looking at me, he spoke.

"I am aware you have made no effort to hide your dislike of me, going so far as to speak openly on the subject. I let it slide when you only spoke with your sister, considering she's your only family and I won't discipline you for being honest with your sensei, but this will spread no further without severe repercussions. Whatever your problem with me is, it will remain solely between us. Am I clear?"

I sorely wanted to jerk away from him and stalk out, but for once he was right. "Crystal," I responded neutrally. He released my shoulder

"Dismissed, and make sure you're always wearing your haori, on-duty or not. The people need a boost in morale."

I was out of the room faster than Minato's future Hiraishin could hope to accomplish. I wanted nothing more than to fall on a soft bed with warm blankets heaped on top of me and sleep, but with the discipline Sakumo had beaten into me, I marched into the room where Nagato's family waited.

"C'mon," I murmured to them. It was nearly sunset.

Nagato's parents exchanged one of the 'adult' looks I now found more frustrating than during my previous life before silently standing and following me. I could feel their questioning gazes on my back, but ignored them as I led them back to my apartment, my shoulders hunched and gaze on the ground to block out the whispering around me.

No one was home. There wasn't a note, so I figured she would be back by morning at the latest, but I was going to find her anyways, she'd been kidnapped one too many times already.

"The Hokage said I was responsible for making sure you have everything you need. The village can't afford to give you any help setting up. You might as well live here, considering neither of us stay here regularly anymore." I yanked a kunai out of the wall and picked up several more from across the floor, as well as an odd broken blade. I tossed all of it into the apartment's only bedroom, where we kept all our ninja things then closed the door without glancing inside. "Don't go in there, it's where we keep our ninja stuff and I don't want anyone getting hurt on accident because I'm not entirely sure of how many pranks and traps Kushina and I rigged up in there."

"Where are all your security seals?" Ise asked.

"Can't use them because this is a civilian complex and Kushina and I aren't good enough to make seals that we can prove won't kill, besides, the village is mostly safe. You have full access to everywhere else, so you can do whatever you like to the place. There's money sealed in the back of the fridge if you need anything. In the morning, I'll bring you to the hospital to find out where you can help. I'm going to go locate my sister right now, there should be some ramen in the cupboards, maybe something in the fridge. I'll help you get settled as soon as I can. You're probably tired, so don't wait up for me, you won't notice me come back anyways." They didn't need to know anything more.

I shunshined out of the still-open door and clumsily arrived a street away from the mission room, annoyed at how far I missed my intended destination. As I approached the window to find statuses of shinobi, the Chuunin didn't even look at me.

"We don't share information with civilians," he grunted. "Especially not civilian wannabes."

"Good thing I'm not a civilian," I responded coldly. "Is my sister on a mission?"

He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow. "I expected you to be taller."

"Yeah, and I expected you to be more helpful."

"Fine. Uzumaki Kushina is your sister, right?"

"Yes."

His hand flicked through a sign asking for confirmation and I rolled my eyes and gave it. "She was just placed on medical leave."

I frowned and left, heading straight for Minato's apartment. I stopped at the door.

I wasn't a great sensor but if I concentrated, I could pick up familiar chakra signals and get a somewhat accurate idea of their mood. Both Kushina and Minato were asleep in the middle of the floor, wrapped in several blankets. As quietly as I could, without using any ninja techniques, I opened the door and slipped inside, locking it behind me. With a bit of dancing to get past the traps and avoiding twisting my ankle on the equally dangerous not-trapped mess inside the door, I made it into the main room and crouched beside Kushina. Normally, she was a heavy sleeper, but I wasn't surprised when she instantly woke and grabbed my wrist. Luckily, she didn't attack me like my teammates were prone to do while on missions.

"Nii-san!" Two voices cried and both Minato and Kushina knocked me back with a hug.

I could have avoided being pinned underneath the two over-eager Genin, but something wasn't right. "So why are you lying in the middle of the floor."

"Um, we had to write some reports," he mumbled into my stomach somewhere, but there was no paper to be seen.

"Liar, is everything alright? You're not normally this clingy." An undignified squeak escaped me as two children clinging to me turned into two shinobi children. "I'll take that as a no," I gasped. Sure they were kids, they probably missed me, considering I ended up mostly taking care of both of them for two years, but when Kushina shuddered and tightened her grip enough to crack a rib if I wasn't reinforcing it with chakra and Minato started crying, I figured something bad had gone down.

I laid my hands on their heads, pulsing with medical chakra. Kushina knocked my hand away before I could figure out anything. That set off practically every alarm bell I had. I scanned Minato instead. Whoever had healed him up had done a good job on the outside, but it was wartime and full healings just didn't exist. There was minor internal hemorrhaging around his abdomen, which had been healed just enough that I couldn't figure out how it happened and the pain would prevent Minato from moving very much for the next few weeks. Definitely done by one of Tsunade's disciples. There was plenty of bruising across his skin, everywhere except his face. The skin on his lower legs seemed new, which meant someone had regrown it.

"What the hell happened?" When neither made any motion to explain, I sat up. Kushina clutched a fistful of my clothes. Both of them were far too warm to be healthy and it was uncomfortably hot with both of them pressed against me and the blankets on top of them. "This isn't funny you two, I can't do a damn thing if you don't tell me anything."

"We're fine, just a bad mission," Kushina choked out.

"You're Genin, you aren't allowed on missions that'll leave you in this state," I retorted.

Kushina shuddered again and I tried to run a second diagnostics jutsu on her, but she grabbed my wrist and forced my arm away.

I pulled Minato up to sit beside me then dragged Kushina into my lap. I held my hand, glowing with medical Ninjutsu in front of her. "Let me help, Kushina, or I will knock you out and help you anyways." The hospital couldn't force treatment on anyone and formerly captured ninja tended to get their way, but I had no regard for hospital policies in the middle of an apartment with two kids who seemed to be in some sort of traumatic shock. Besides, I not only outranked he, but I was her legal guardian as well.

She turned her face into my neck and wrapped her arms around my chest, crying. I gently hugged her back and laid my hand against the back of her head. Minato had let someone heal him, or at least didn't have a choice in the matter; Kushina had not and I got the entire disgusting picture of what happened. She'd been captured, that much was immediately obvious. I was furious, but not surprised that she'd been beaten and raped. I murmured quiet reassurances mixed with death threats to whomever was responsible. It only took me about a half hour to heal all the internal damage, she hadn't been captured for long. When I looked at the external damage, I froze. Kushina had been forced to stand in some kind of fire, which left third-degree burns, and there was some kind of message burned on her back. She didn't struggle as I gently slipped the blanket off her shoulders and looked down the back of her borrowed shirt to see the kanji for 'medic' etched into her skin. Feeling sick, I quickly healed it, taking extra care in making sure I didn't leave any scarring, and hugged her tightly. I felt like something inside of me had snapped.

"Suna or Iwa?" I asked Minato, putting my arm around him as well and finishing his healing. They were the only countries who had a legitimate reason to retaliate against me specifically.

"Suna," he answered, leaning against me.

"And the team that caught you?"

"Dead. The ANBU killed them."

"How long ago?"

"I-I don't know, not long."

I struck the Sandaime off my list of people to murder for this, there was probably no way for him to have known about it before I left, in fact, he probably found out about it right after I stormed out, or might still be unaware. "Where did they find you?"

"On one of the training grounds. They killed the ANBU guarding us."

ANBU worked in two-man teams at minimum, especially for guarding two individuals. "Did they take you out of the village?"

"No, training ground forty-four."

A loud knock sounded from the door.

"It's the ANBU who killed the Suna team," Minato informed me.

"You sure?"

He nodded.

"Come in!" I called out. They could unlock the door themselves.

After a moment, the ANBU appeared out of the hall. I frowned. The mask looked exactly like Kakashi's. I closed my eyes and looked at the chakra signature. It was definitely Sakumo. Someone had a sense of irony. When I opened my eyes, he told me he and a full team was there to guard Minato and Kushina.

I signed back confirmation.

"What did he say?" Minato asked.

"It doesn't matter. You're completely safe now, both of you, at least until this war is over."

"B-but how do you know?" Kushina asked.

"'Cause he's gonna stay with us!" Minato responded, looking up at me hopefully.

"No, the ANBU are going to protect you all of the time. I'm gonna go out and beat up the people responsible, okay?"

"No!" Minato cried, twisting in my arm and combining forces with Kushina to pin me down.

"They said if you left the village again, they'd torture and kill you and then come for us and—and do all sorts of horrible things!"

Luckily, I was better at getting out of being pinned than either of them could ever hope to be at holding me down. With a complicated twist that required all my flexibility and a bit of deliberately targeting pain receptors, I crouched with my arms loosely around both of their shoulders.

"I promise you both they won't get me, at least not until I've gotten them first. The only problem is that once I get to them, they won't be able to get to me. Do you want to help?"

They both looked up at me in awe then nodded. The joys of impressionable children. They'll believe anything with enough conviction behind it, and I had plenty.

"You've been learning about sealing from Kushina, right?" I asked Minato.

He nodded.

"Good, I need you both to come up with a seal that can make me completely invisible and undetectable. Can you do it?"

"Hell yeah, -ttebane!"

"Good. I have a someone who might be able to help you get it done faster, you ready?"

They nodded. I signed 'home' into the air and pulled them along with me in a shunshin back to the apartment to meet Nagato's family. I landed the Shunshin far closer to my intended landing point than I normally did (across the street instead of a block away).

I guided the two Genin into the apartment. Instead of a traditional hello to the family finishing up their ramen dinner, I announced, "Introductions all around!" I put a hand on Kushina's head. "Everyone, this is Uzumaki Kushina, my little sister from Uzu." I put my hand on Minato's head. "This is Namikaze Minato, my adopted little brother from Konoha." I pointed at each of the other Uzumakis in turn. "That's Uzumaki Ise, Uzumaki Fusō, and little Uzumaki Nagato. Kushina, Fusō was friends with our mother. They moved out of Uzu a few years before the massacre and I found then while I was in Ame on my last mission."

Kushina looked like a kid with a hundred presents under the Christmas tree. She turned to me and gave me a hug that felt more like strangulation. "You're the best nii-san ever, -ttebane!" She shouted.

"Not for very long!" I choked before someone, I was sure it was Minato, knocked my breath away with a second hug, then a third, rather small, body, probably Nagato, leapt on my back, followed by two more sets of arms. The biggest set wrapped around everyone and when my feet started to leave the ground, I replaced myself with a pillow from one of the beds. I made a mental note to never again incite an Uzumaki-Plus-Minato group hug as everyone decided my need to use medical Ninjutsu to fix myself was the funniest thing since fart jokes.

"So, you'll be able to make that seal?" I asked Kushina, who was the first around the corner, grinning widely.

She gave me an evil grin. "You bet!"

"Then I'm going to go get permission to implement the rest of my plan." I left through the window with another shunshin, and landed in front of the Hokage tower.

An ANBU landed beside me with what appeared to be a fox mask. "The Hokage wishes to see you."

"Good, I need to see him too." I yelped as the ANBU's hand closed around my arm and pulled me into the Hokage office through the window.

I was about to speak when I noticed the Hokage glaring angrily at three shinobi dressed in the ANBU uniforms sans mask. Three ANBU masks were piled on his desk.

"It was two minutes!" One of them protested.

"It doesn't matter!" The Hokage roared back, furious. "You left your respective posts for two minutes and ten Suna  _Jōnin_  made it into this village undetected! In two minutes a team of that caliber could have taken out half the village leadership!"

"They were just Genin! How the hell was I supposed to know they have two villages gunning for them?"

"Oh, so I suppose if you were guarding the Daimyō you would have been fine leaving your post because he's just a  _civilian_?" I snapped.

"Shut up, little Chuunin, you don't belong here."

"Like hell I don't belong here. It was my  _sister_  who was just captured and tortured! Not to mention her and Minato are  _Jiraiya's_  students and their capture would have not only controlled me, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, but him as well, and through him, the Hokage himself, but you'd be just fine with that, right, because they're  _just Genin_? Would you like to go explain to two eight-year-olds that you're the reason they were just tortured?"

The Hokage flicked his fingers and three ANBU descended from the ceiling and forcibly escorted them out just as the full implications of their slip-up hit them.

"I was going to call you back to make sure Suna's message didn't reach you, but I guess I'm too late."

"Far too late," I responded, ignoring the three council members observing from the corner of the room. "I'm going to talk to the fox."

"You can't!" One of them exploded.

"Stop me!" I snarled back and took a threatening step forward. The ANBU that brought me in stepped in to hold me back.

"I'll handle this," the Hokage said and waved his hand. "Please wait outside."

Furious, they left. And the ANBU released me. I angrily straightened my clothes.

"Why do you want to talk to the fox?" The Hokage demanded.

"To release the Ichibi on Suna."

Obviously, that made absolutely no sense to the Hokage. "And how, pray tell, do those two things connect?"

I shrugged. "It's a very long story, but in short, the tailed beasts are the most powerful beings in the world. I want these beings to like me. Suna pissed me off, so I'm going to kill two birds with one stone: start my crusade to free the tailed beasts and at make a very good opening through which I can kill the Kazekage, who gave the order to torture my sister. I need the Kyuubi's help to do that. Is there a specific place you would prefer me to make my agreement with the Kyuubi? Or can I sit right here?"

"I can't stop you. Go sit down somewhere out of the way. I have work to do. Afterwards, please tell me your plan for killing the Kazekage before you rush off."

I rolled my eyes and sat down in the middle of the room. It had been over a year since I last managed to properly enter my own mindscape. After a few false starts, I managed it, only to find myself face-to-face with a frightening Kurama crucified against a sphere of something.

(-_-)

My favorite way to get over a fear of public speaking was to imagine the entire audience as angry babies. It always worked for me, and it worked very well in helping me get over any terror I had in facing a being that could crush me under the tip of his claw.

For once, I decided to make Sakumo proud and be moderately respectful without being told. "Hello, my name is Kichiro, what's yours?"

Kurama just studied me carefully.  **You want to free the Bijū.**  I was quite thrilled by the fact that the hatred defining his character in my memories had not fully manifested. Either that or he was just interested enough in my completely unique way of looking at him to not issue threats of murder.

"Obviously, you were paying attention."

**Prove it.**

"No problem. I'll start my crusade right away, but you have to agree to two conditions."

He snorted.  **And what will I get out of this?**  I counted the fact that he was listening and considering what I had to say as a win.

"Freedom upon my natural death and if you work with me you and I might be able to make sure you are never sealed again."

**Tempting, but I will escape eventually. I nearly did the day I was sealed into you.**

"Yeah, and it would have done me a very big favor if you had killed me then. Just saying. You've been sealed in me for nearly six months and haven't gotten anywhere, not for lack of trying. As time goes on, people will only get stronger and your chances will diminish."

**You have a point, little rat.**

"Charmed. Do you want to hear the conditions?"

**Go ahead.**

"First, upon your release you will not attack Konoha and you will only hurt and destroy that which attacks you first, well, that which attempts to attack you first."

When he made no response, I continued.

"Second, you will make sure that I am not killed in any way except when I decide to voluntarily release this seal."

**I can't fix injuries, not while in this particular seal.**

"True, but if you agree to work with me, I'll see what I can do to get rid of the seal or at least reduce it. Or at least alter it so you're mostly free."

**I could turn on you the second you do so.**

"True, but I don't think you will."

**Then you're an idiot.**

"I don't think I am. You can detect negative emotions and there's something about it that you don't like. I sincerely doubt you're oblivious to the anger, the pain, and the fear of the other Bijū, your siblings, who aren't as strong as you and need someone to at least bail them out." I was crossing into dangerous territory with the fox. If I pushed to hard or implied the wrong thing, it could all blow up and bite me in the ass. Even so, a little ego-stoking could come in handy. "I don't think Konoha was really ever one of those places you genuinely hate. The people here try to do what's right, as misguided and wrong as their actions turn out to be." I tapped the seal on my forehead as an example. "You punish evil, even though innocents often get caught in the crossfire."

**You've given me something to think about. Leave.**

He couldn't throw me out of my own mind, but he did have much more experience inside my mind and managed to effectively threw me out anyways. My eyes flew open and I felt horribly sick. I barely made it to the trash can before I puked my guts out in front of the council and several clan heads

"So, have you realized the Kyuubi can't be reasoned with?" The Sandaime asked smugly.

"Actually, the opposite. He's cynical, justifiably indignant at being treated worse than a street-dog, has a bit of an ego, but unreasonable is not a word that can be applied to him. He seems to think of himself as a traitor but I don't think he'll go back on his word."

Just like that, I could see the Hokage's blood pressure skyrocket, even though I was still hunched over the trashcan, puking at odd intervals.

"What seal did Mito use on the Kyuubi?" I asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I need to loosen it."

There it went, the blood pressure of the entire room started to push dangerous levels. I barely held back a smile.

"Surely you're not considering—" one of the clan heads exploded.

The Sandaime quickly held up a hand. "It's almost two in the morning. I think we all could do with some rest."

The hell? It was barely dark when I got to his office.

The clan heads left, disgruntled, but the council didn't. Danzō spoke up. "This has gone far enough, Hiruzen. Every time that boy speaks you dismiss the room! How are we expected to give advice if we know nothing about this village's weapons?"

"Just shut up, old warmonger! You got your personal army, why the hell do you need his as well?" Judging by his rapidly paling face, it hit far, far closer to the mark than I expected. "The hell? You actually have a personal army?" Already?

Faster than I could blink, the man backhanded me across the face. "What could a Genin know?" He snarled, towering above me.

"Chuunin!" I spat back. Word to the wise: don't backtalk pissed-off old men with power to sling around. The drama that ensued was not the slightest bit pleasant. The man's hands came together and my eyes widened as fire flooded from his mouth. I jerked my hands up to cover my face but instead of fire from outside poring over me, fiery chakra swelled up from inside of me and a hand burst out of my chest to catch the blade which appeared out of nowhere and wrenched the blade headed straight for my heart out of Danzō's hand.

**I accept your terms.**  The Kyuubi said.  ** _Kill him_** **.**

The blade flew into my hand, but before I could move, the Hokage's hand slammed a piece of paper into my gut.

"Five Elements Seal!" He ground out.

The Kyuubi snarled with frustration and returned back into the seal.  **You need to get stronger.**  He gave his parting shot at me. Why the hell was he antagonizing  _me_?

Well, I was nine years old and Danzō was at least three times that. The fox could deal with it.

For some time, I was much more interested in whatever havoc was being wreaking in my chakra system than what was going on around me.

When I opened my eyes, the seal was gone and I lay on a small mattress with Kushina sprawled on top of me, sound asleep and Minato against my side, fidgeting with a hole in my shirt. Someone had removed my weapons, Chuunin vest, haori, and shoes, which had been replaced with socks. I could hear three other people breathing softly in the room. I could hate fighting and murder all I wanted, but the people who would have threaten and torture little kids didn't deserve to live and I was sure as hell going to make sure no one attacked Minato and Kushina again. At least until each of them was a big enough badass to deal with their own enemies.


	12. Part 3

It had been three days since I last emerged from the basement of the Hokage tower where the Kyuubi had been sealed inside of me. I spent nearly all that time working on channeling the Kyuubi's strength without killing myself. An ANBU visited three times a day and brought me food and occasionally a scroll on the tailed beasts that had been found in the village archives.

When I finally left for a day, I traded the embarrassment of almost forgetting Minato's birthday for the embarrassment of being the only person who remembered, including the boy himself. When I walked into the apartment with a present in my hands I found the two Genin and the two adults leaning over a complicated seal far beyond my comprehension that covered the entire table with paper. Poor Nagato was flopped over one of the mattresses unknotting a length of ninja wire.

"Happy birthday, Minato!" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

They shushed me and continued in their debate.

"They been being mean for days!" Nagato told me wisely. It sounded pathetic coming from the boy. "They won't play with me! To-chan always plays with me!"

I felt bad because I had been the one to ask them to make the seal. It made me feel even worse when I realized that Nagato wasn't even old enough to go to school, so he had absolutely nothing to do. The walls were drawn on, some of the doodles were pictures, and others resembled crooked kanji while his fingers were stained with ink. He had pushed the mattresses and appeared to have made some sort of game with the blankets and pillows. I was surprised he hadn't wandered out yet, though that might have been because of the combination of the child-proofing seals and the fact he couldn't quite reach the lock above the doorknob.

"Hey, kiddo, why don't you and I go out for a big breakfast somewhere and then go to the playground?"

"Really?" He jumped up and ran at me, colliding with my knees and not letting go.

"Sure, just let me tell them where we'll be so they don't worry."

"You're the best nii-san ever! You are my nii-san, right? That's what Ka-chan said when we were in that boring building!"

"Um, sure, I'll be your nii-san too," I answered as I scribbled down the note and left it on top of Minato's present, the scooped up the impressive pile of mail on the doormat for something to read later. "I know the perfect place to eat, ready to go?"

Nagato ran to the door and pulled on his shoes. I grabbed one of my old jackets hanging in the closet and slipped it on him. It was January and a little cold for a kid. I could use a little bit of medical chakra to warm myself up.

I was about to open the door when Nagato reached up to me. "Up?" He asked. I crouched down and he hopped onto my back. "Fly! Fly!" He insisted. I glanced back at the table where the three Uzumakis and Minato were bent over the seal. I wanted to pull them out, but Nagato had obviously been bored for days. I have no idea how they forgot about the boy, but he deserved some fun, especially since it was mostly my fault he was being ignored. Once the boy had a secure grip, I leapt to the roof to show him  _my_  favorite way to get breakfast in Konoha. Nagato was perfectly happy carrying part of our breakfast and curious as to what I was planning. When we reached the closest market square, I set Nagato on his feet. He immediately grasped my hand and let me pull him through the square to several stands where I bought us assorted fruits and sweets.

One thing I did not miss at all from my world was the grocery stores. In the Konoha market, I knew the people who grew my food and I didn't have to worry about choosing the right things, the stands I was most familiar with knew exactly what I wanted and all I had to do was walk up and they would get it ready with a smile and a little small talk. At the stand that always gave me an extra stick of dango for free, I shared my most recent healing escapades or she regaled me with tales of the time she spent as a medic-nin before a grouchy Iwa nin liberated one of her hands and stole it as a trophy, forcibly retiring the woman. Her daughter made the dango and she sold it. At the cart with the oranges, one of the man's daughters was an aspiring novelist and would run ideas past me and make me promise to buy her book whenever it was published. I liked talking with the civilians because it let me forget about everything ninja and remember what it was like to be a civilian.

Nagato wasn't keen on most of the attention, especially from strangers so I hurried through the market, even though the people I met wanted nothing more than to catch me and beg for news from the shinobi side of the war. I discovered that I had a reasonable fan following as the 'Spirit of the Triage' especially among the civilian children. I couldn't say I was surprised. There was no such thing as a decent role model from the shinobi world. As a rule, shinobi exploits were generally looked down upon by civilians. Theft, torture, and murder just never made appropriate bedtime stories. It made sense as to why everyone seemed to want me to wear my haori everywhere.

Bringing Nagato to breakfast was a good idea to begin with. There was a small playground near the Uchiha compound everyone except the Uchiha tended to avoid. Because of that, it stayed deserted until well after lunch. Nagato and I enjoyed our morning meal in the grass near the bottom of the metal slide. It wasn't particularly healthy, consisting of mostly sweets and some bread, but it was fun, even though the air was a bit too cold to be comfortable.

I pulled out two slices of off-season watermelon I managed to buy without Nagato noticing. We had fun as I showed the boy how to spit seeds. I had never been good at it in either life, but Nagato happily picked it up easily enough. When the sun finally reached above the treetops, it started to warm up.

At first, there was only two clan kids, an Inuzuka and a Nara a bit more than a year older than Nagato, whose mothers dared to come so close to the Uchiha compound. They were joined shortly after by two Uchiha mothers and three other children around the same age, plus an infant. I remained sitting on the grass while Nagato played with the other kids. Five civilian kids of varied ages and clearly all related, dragged a harried, two-man Genin team to investigate the ruckus. By the time lunch rolled around, there were twelve children running around the playground, all under the age of seven.

Until then, only Nagato ever came within arm's reach of me. Kids were generally taught not to get too close to a shinobi without permission. I amused myself by covertly watching the two Genin who hung uncertainly in the tree-line and flipped through the mail. They recognized me, I was sure of it. One had even hidden a Bingo Book behind his partner's back to check. I noticed one of the letters to be extremely official-looking, and tucked it into my pocket to look at later when I could concentrate. Kushina's clever sealing that had been applied to my kunai pouch had also been applied to my pockets, though it only fit approximately six square inches of things.

One of the mothers brought a lunch basket filled with food for all the kids, which was unexpectedly kind. The group of mothers somehow wrangled the Genin into distributing the food. I felt bad for them as the children attacked the two boys, but not enough to stand up and help them, it was good training in situational awareness as well as self-control.

I didn't move when Nagato plopped himself down in my lap, a sandwich clutched in his hand. Ten minutes later, the entire group was back at play and the Genin finally found the nerve to approach me, presumably to ask if I was the Spirit of the Triage. If I was reading the conversation between the mothers properly, they had figured it out a long time ago and now the two Genin were the main topic of conversation, and if I wasn't mistaken, a few bets.

With the pretext of bringing me some of the leftovers from the lunch, the older Genin came over.

"Are you on a mission?" He asked as he held out the small sandwiches.

"No." I responded curtly.

"Then why are you wearing a uniform?"

"The Hokage told me to." That was not the answer he was expecting.

"Who's the boy you're here with?"

"My new little brother."

"Why are you here?" He sat down in front of me.

"His parents are working with my other two siblings on a project and he was bored." I made a mental note to complement the boy's interrogation skills. They were nearly Chuunin-level, and if I didn't know exactly what information he was after and felt like making him work for it, it would have accomplished its objective very quickly.

"Aren't Chuunin supposed to dress like civilians when they're off-duty?" He asked, the slightest amount of accusation in his voice as he dug dirt out from under his nails with a kunai. He might've looked intimidating if he was about ten years older with twice the muscle.

Clever, he was trying to put me on the defensive and make me want to explain myself. Well, tricks only worked if you fell for them. "I already told you, the Hokage, and my sensei, told me to stay in uniform even when I was off-duty."

"Right." He was definitely frustrated. "Why did they tell you to stay in uniform?"

I threw him a bone. "It seems to me you've already figured it out when you were going through that Bingo Book."

"So, you are the Spirit?"

Never mind, I was going to screw with his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you the Spirit of the Triage?"

"What are you talking about?" Of course, my scam had to be upended by a stupid kid.

One of the kids screamed in pain, followed quickly by one of the women racing towards him. When I finally found the kid, who had fallen while trying to walk on the monkey-bars, the woman had already fallen to her knees beside the boy.

"Don't touch him!" I shouted before the mother could pick the boy up. In a second I was on my feet and running to the kid. The mother glared at me while the boy screamed. "I'm a medic-nin," I explained, "May I give treatment?"

If she had been a civilian mother, I wouldn't have bothered asking, but considering she was the Inuzuka boy's mother and had a kunai in her hand, I figured it was in my best interests to ask first.

"Go ahead," she told me and sat back on her heels. Nagato grabbed a fistful of my haori and buried his face in my back. I ignored him and ran two fingers down the boy's spine, which was thankfully unharmed, even if he had a depression fracture in his skull from hitting something on the way down. I fixed the boy's head first, trying not to look at the nasty compound fracture in his upper arm.

Unlike most medics, I had enough chakra to do full healings, and I didn't care about whether I should or not.

I wanted to show off a tiny bit, so I put the bone back into the boy's body using just chakra. Luckily, I remembered to sever the boy's pain receptors in the process, otherwise it might have been much more painful to the ears.

When I finished, my head ached just like it always did whenever I had to repair nerves. Nagato clung to one of my legs as the mother held her kid while he cried, even though I knew he wasn't hurt at all.

"Thank you," she said earnestly.

"You're welcome," I answered politely and picked up Nagato. A second later, I was mobbed by little children who suddenly thought I was the coolest thing since candy.

"You are the Spirit of the Triage!" One of the Genin accused.

"Um, yeah, but, you know—"

The younger Genin interrupted, "You're the Habanero's brother!"

"What?" Well, Kushina never told me about that nickname.

"You're Uzumaki Kichiro!"

"I wanna go to a different park," Nagato murmured in my ear. Well, I had no idea how to respond to the instant-celebrity status, so different park it was.

"I have to go, um, have a nice day," At that I shunshined out of the park while the mothers giggled quietly at my predicament.

I brought Nagato to a playground on the other side of the village. "Sorry about that, Nagato-kun," I said as I set the boy down on a less-full playground.

"It's okay, Nii-san, you were just helping. They were being mean and screaming about it."

"You can go play, I'll wait on that bench, okay?"

"Okay!" He ran off to make new friends.

I sat down on the bench and pulled out the official letter. It was a notice that one of the Uzumaki orphans attending the orphanage had gone missing several weeks before. I put the letter away, perturbed, and forced the issue out of my mind. There was absolutely nothing I could do about that particular problem, though I had a hard time believing that Orochimaru's experiments had started this early.

Ten minutes later, a group of Academy students came looking for me. What the hell? I didn't sign up for being stalked by children!

"There he is!" One of them shouted. I ran over to Nagato, picked him up and shunshined home as fast as I could.

Double-dead-bolting the door jarred the four people obsessing over the seal out of their trances. Nagato ran over to the window and locked it as well.

"Um, Nii-san? What happened?" Minato asked.

"I'm being stalked by children."

The Genin started laughing.

"It's not funny!"

"Actually, it is, Kichiro-kun," Ise chuckled.

"Nagato, back me up!"

"It's not funny!" The boy insisted. "They were all screaming and running at Nii-san and they tried to jump on him and-and—"

"And it's funny!" Fusō smirked. "Anyways, when did you two leave?"

"I left a note and took Nagato out for breakfast; he was bored here."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Nagato-chan!" She cried and scooped the boy into a hug, finally noticing all the evidence of a toddler's boredom around the room. "Did you have fun with Kichiro-kun?"

"Nii-san's the best!" Nagato clapped and started to tell her about everything we did. I peered out of the peephole of the door and was glad to find no one there. "—and then this boy fell and got hurt really, really bad and Nii-san healed him real-quick-like and it was so cool and before that I was playing with all the other kids and before that Nii-san showed me how to spit watermelon seeds—" This earned me a disapproving look from Fusō. "—and he took me to the market and there were so many people but it was a little scary because everyone liked to look at us and I'm really tired right now but I want to have a fun day with Nii-san again, can I? Can I? Please? Please?"

"Of course, you can, Nagato-chan—"

The boy cheered and leapt out of her arms and ran to me. "Nii-san, can we do it again tomorrow? Please? Please? Please?"

"Um, sure, if you want to."

"Yay!"

Minato and Kushina were still laughing at me. Faster than anyone in the room could track, I dashed behind them and slapped the back of their heads like Sakumo seemed to enjoy doing to me then zipped back to my spot by the door.

"Hey!" They shouted indignantly and advanced threateningly. I picked up Nagato and held him between us.

"Watch the kid!" I warned them, laughing.

They split off to flank me. Shit. I forgot they were ninjas as well and I wasn't exactly sure who was the bigger threat. I dodged Kushina's lunge, only to find out it was a feint and have Minato's leg sweep from behind. Still, I was a Chuunin and they were just Genin, so I jumped over the sweep and tossed Nagato at Kushina, leapt off the wall, and broke the rules of physics to jump on Minato's back and hijack the brain signals to his limbs so he went plowing towards Kushina, cursing. She had a choice to save Nagato or herself. She chose Nagato and Minato collided with her and they went tumbling onto a mattress. I crouched beside Nagato and gave the boy a hug.

"Good job, Nagato-kun!" I praised him.

"That was fun! Can we do it again, please? Please? Please?"

"I don't know, have my dear little siblings learned not to laugh at me?" I looked over at Kushina, trying to disentangle herself from Minato, who was temporarily paralyzed.

Fusō took pity on the struggling Genin and helped them untangle themselves while the paralysis wore off.

I leapt to my feet and went to grab Minato's present from where I left it. "Guess what!"

"What?"

"It's Minato's birthday!"

"What?" The entire room exclaimed.

"Happy birthday!" I held out the present.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kushina demanded of me.

"What? Why are you accusing me? It's  _his_  birthday."

"Wait, are you sure it's already my birthday?" Minato demanded.

"Well, today's the day you put on your ninja registration." I shoved the poorly wrapped package into Minato's hands.

Ignoring everyone else, I watched him open it. It was a half-set of what would become his signature kunai. When he opened it, he frowned. "What is it?"

"What is what?" Kushina demanded and snatched it out of his hands. "Yeah, what is this?"

I grinned and grabbed his wrist, politely waiting for him to hand the gift to Kushina. "You keep getting hurt here and here," I pointed to the scars on his hand from where an opponent's kunai had slipped down his own and bit into his hand, and then pushed up his sleeve to reveal the several chunks missing from his forearm where a blade had slipped off his block. "At the very least you're going to lose a few fingers if you don't start using some kind of guard while you're fighting melee, especially since you  _only_  seem to fight melee." I grabbed one of the blades and put it in his hand and pulled out my own kunai and slashed at his head. He yelped in surprise and automatically blocked. I twisted my blade and it stuck in between one of the prongs. "See?"

Minato got a look in his eye that told me he was about to do something tricky. He twisted his wrist and jerked the kunai out of my hand, but by the time it fell from my hand, I had immobilized his wrist.

"Nice try." Kushina used to complain to me about all the tricks Minato would use on her in spars, so there wasn't much the boy could do to surprise me, not even with a sneaky knife to the ribs, which I blocked with one of my sticks. "You're going to have to get up earlier than that to pull one over on me."

"Can you spar with me, please?" Minato begged. "I want to see how they work!"

"Sure," I agreed. I didn't spar with them often, but I figured now would be a good time, considering I hoped to be headed to Suna sometime soon. I needed to keep up my skill somehow.

"I wanna watch!" Nagato bounced. "I wanna see Nii-san beat up the evil boy!"

"Your awesome Nee-chan will take you!" Kushina exclaimed.

"Well, you're a bad Nee-chan," Nagato said matter-of-factly.

I ruffled the hair of the two Genin, much to their annoyance. "It's okay, you just need a bit of practice to be better big siblings. You'll figure it out pretty quick."

I let the retaliatory double punch to the gut land, because I kind-of deserved it.

"Don't hurt my Nii-san!" Nagato protested.

"Lesson number one: don't beat up people your little brother or sister likes!" I wheezed. Fusō and Ise seemed to be dying of laughter in the background.

"You beat up Sakumo-sensei and we like him!" Minato protested.

"I've hit him a total of one time, and that was before either of you said more than a sentence to him," I deadpanned. "Besides, once you're the best nii-san, you can get away with almost anything. Minato, you want that spar or not?" Nagato hugged my legs.

"I'll get my stuff," Minato ran into the designated 'ninja room' with Kushina on his heels.

"You two want to come?" I asked the two adults.

"No!" They both waved their arms and took a step back.

"You kids have fun, and don't get hurt," Ise said. "Spend the rest of the day out, we're going to work on making this place actually livable, and clean up the blood-splattered and bug-ridden mattresses."

"They're not that bad!" I protested.

"No, they're worse, but for two kiddos living alone, you've done a wonderful job." Fusō crouched in front of me and placed both hands on my shoulders. "You've got someone to take care of you now, so relax and have fun."

For a minute, I stood there stunned. In my old life, I had seen my father only once or twice a year, he always seemed to be out of the country for one classified deployment or another, and my mother had died at some point while I was in fourth grade. She was a shameless drunk and rarely gave a damn what I did or where I went, as long as I showed up at five o'clock sharp for dinner. Besides that, I was on my own, and only the fact that I was scared shitless of my father, who treated me more like a soldier than a son, stopped me from ending up in a jail cell before I turned fifteen. It might have been more due to the fact that I lived on a military base under the influence of a bunch of future Marines that I stayed on the straight and narrow, but I guess I'd never know.

Now, to have someone who all but abandoned their calling for a kid and a few unwanted orphans promising something of a real family for the first time in my life—I leaned forward and hugged her, appreciating the sentiment. Slowly and deliberately, she hugged me back. "Thank you—Ka-chan."

"You're welcome."

"We gotta find a bigger place though. I don't wanna sleep on that little bed forever with Minato  _and_  Kushina."

"Certainly. The clan is still alive after all, even if you're all children right now." She kissed the top of my head. "Now go enjoy your spar."


	13. Chapter 13

"You ready?" I asked Minato.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Absolutely sure?"

"Would you stop whatever you're doing and just start already?"

"I don't think you're ready."

"Shut it, Kichiro."

"Half the fight is in your head, Minato, so get your head on straight, then we'll start."

He rolled his eyes at Kushina, only to find she wasn't there. "Kai!" He shouted, dispelling the Genjutsu.

"Now, are you actually ready to focus?" I asked.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that? You keep messing with my head so how do I  _know_  when I'm ready?" Minato gave up and threw his kunai into the ground in frustration. I winced. I had gone a bit too far in trying to psych him out. Sakumo, in his ANBU getup appeared out of sight from everyone but me.

 _Sound familiar?_  He signed. I threw a senbon at him. Minato turned to follow my gaze, confused when he didn't see anyone.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, someone was just trying to mess with me." I released the Genjutsu layers I had woven around Minato. "Okay, close your eyes." Minato huffed, but did so and I repeated Sakumo's lesson from a year previously, almost word-for-word. "First, you have to know exactly what you are capable of, every single tool you have at your disposal." I laid my hand flat against the center of his chest. "You have to balance your ego with your humility to get the most accurate picture of your capabilities as you can. Know where you're strong and where you're weak. For example, you're extremely smart and fast, but you don't have very much chakra to work with. I'm sure you can go into more detail by yourself."

I moved my hand to press two fingers against his forehead.

"Second, you have to always know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you can win. You have to believe you can beat me and keep believing no matter how many times you get beaten back. There is no substitute for absolute confidence."

"You're a Chuunin, I'm a Genin!" Minato's eyes flew open. "You've fought in a war! You're in the Bingo Book! How am I supposed to win?"

"Less than two days after I became a Genin I beat a Tokubetsu Jōnin who'd been a ninja for as long as I've been alive. There's always a way to win if you think hard enough, but you absolutely cannot win if you don't believe you can, got it?"

"I-I think so?"

"Good, close your eyes." When his eyes closed, I put the kunai back in Minato's hand and wrapped my own hands around both of his. "The last thing you have to do is actually win. It might take a while, but trust me, one day, you'll be able to kick my ass across the village and back. Alright? Now, keep all that in mind and focus. Go all out. Don't worry about hurting me, the ANBU are here to make sure nothing gets out of hand. Now, are you ready?"

After a second, Minato nodded. I backed away and settled into a ready stance as he opened his eyes.

"Begin."

He flew towards me, weaving his blades in an almost untraceable pattern, for someone who didn't have a sensei terrified they wouldn't be able to keep up on the battlefield they would be forced onto. I simply blocked with one of the sticks and ducked under his other swing, tripping him. He turned the fall into a handspring and we squared off again.

"You're getting better, Minato, but I'm pretty sure Academy students could do better than you." Yes, I was goading him. To my annoyance, it was working. Kushina may have fought better when riled up, but Minato tended to make stupid mistakes, like charging me with an angry shout. I substituted myself for a water clone and crouched in one of the trees, pulling out my slacklining rope from a storage seal sewn inside of one of the pockets of my Chuunin vest. I quickly strung it across the clearing, hidden by a simple and effective Genjutsu. Sakumo had nearly fallen for it once, and he helped me learn it.

Minato cursed as the water clone dissolved just before it nearly knocked him out, soaking him with water. I dropped silently to the ground and slid underneath it while the boy spun around, frantically searching for me.

"Headhunter no Jutsu!" I responded happily, but quickly jumped out of the way because I knew both he and Kushina could get out of the trap even though I wasn't sure exactly how they managed it. I concealed myself with another Genjutsu and gave him another water clone to fight while I figured out some new, creative way to win. I dashed around the clearing and slipped into Sakumo's hiding spot.

"No," he said immediately.

"Come on! Some Suna nin nearly got  _you_  with this trick and you wouldn't want him to fall for it on an actual mission!"

I may have been better, simply because I had a single teacher focusing on me and tailoring what I learned to my strengths and weaknesses while Minato had to vie for attention among several dozen other students. After a few weeks with Kushina, he figured out how to  _never_  fall for any trick more than once and that carried over to fighting, thankfully. I wanted to know how he did it, because Kushina and I had probably played thousands of tricks on him and not one worked twice.

Sakumo just glared at me. "Fine, I'll stand there and look scary. My shift ends soon, so don't wear yourself out too much, I want to see how far you've gotten on your pet project."

"Thanks."

I dispelled my water clone. Minato was getting increasingly frustrated by the fact he was spending more time fighting, and losing to, clones than the real me.

"I'd say you were doing well, but for someone who wants to be Hokage, you really suck, Minato." I cocked my head to the side and started to circle him. My two shadow clones, which had taken far too much chakra to create than I was comfortable with crouched in their respective hiding places, one on my slackline near the tree and the other a few steps behind me. "You know, those kunai aren't magical, I know you have more in your arsenal than that. I'm not sure this is worth my time since you're so outmatched and not even giving it your all." I waved my hand dismissively and turned around, replacing myself with the clone behind me. Minato lunged forward and slapped an exploding tag onto my clone's back. The clone exploded and I took a step into the explosion then replaced myself with Sakumo then with my clone on the slackline.

"Holy shit!" Minato exclaimed and leapt backwards from the unexpected appearance of an ANBU from the smoke.

His back hit the rope just as I jumped and landed on it, making the rope sink a good three feet. We slid together and I slid off, but Minato didn't fall for the slingshot trick, he grabbed the rope and grinned at me. I barely managed to leap clear before he  _somehow_  channeled a giant lightning bolt into the rope. Sakumo disappeared into thin air as Minato swung down and landed in front of me. We were back where we started.

"Clever, but not clever enough," I told him and tapped my chest. He looked down at his own chest and froze as he noticed the explosive note. It was set to detonate the next time he channeled chakra, or moved more than a few inches. I didn't dare activate it, mostly because I wasn't exactly sure how to safely deactivate it yet.

Minato was not happy. "When?" He demanded.

I pulled the note off him and stuck it in my pocket, grinning. "When you landed on the slackline," I told him.

"That thing is evil, Sakumo-sensei is a sadistic bastard for making you do all those things on that damn rope."

"I take offense to that!" I retorted. "Slacklining is the best part of training with Sakumo!" It had been over a year since I last legitimately lost my balance, so the training had completely paid off. "Anyway, Minato, good job, but don't get riled up when you're taunted, it ruins your concentration. I have to go to training. Will you be alright getting back on your own with Nagato?"

"I want to come!" Nagato ran up and tugged on my haori.

I crouched down. "I'm sorry, Nagato, but you're going to have to stay with Kushina and Minato for a few hours, maybe days, okay?"

"But they're boring!"

"I'll tell you a secret, they can be really fun if you give them another chance, alright?"

"But Nii-san!"

"I'll see you soon, Nagato, goodbye!" I left before he could say anything more.

(-_-)

I waited for about an hour on the training ground I usually met Sakumo on. Most of the time, I sat and meditated. I hovered in a state where I could hear Kurama lecturing me on going easy on Minato and not destroying him right out of the gate, which I ignored, while remaining perfectly aware of my surroundings, at least from a chakra perspective. Chakra was the lifeblood of this world. Without it, nothing could live, which was why chakra exhaustion could be so dangerous. Out of nowhere, someone touched my shoulder.

I knocked the hand away and stumbled out if reach, not that it would have done me much good against an enemy. When I recognized Sakumo wearing his Jōnin uniform, I scowled.

"You're in ANBU," I greeted.

"You aren't supposed to know that."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to be the person to tell me they finally had a proper guard."

"You would have attacked anyone else."

"Not if they could prove their identity first or one of them vouched for whoever it was."

Sakumo rolled his eyes.

"Why do you want me here?"

"The Hokage wants me to talk you out of forming any kind of relationship with the Kyuubi."

"It's not going to work."

"He knows. I also want to know why you're doing this."

"Is that a question or a statement."

"For now, a statement."

"But you still want me to answer it."

He didn't answer. "No. I don't want you to be making a mistake."

"I'm not the one making a mistake! The Kazekage ordered the  _torture_  of two eight-year-old  _children_!"

"They're shinobi, Kichiro. They understood what they signed up for. I made sure the entire team knew they would end up targeted because of you, me, Jiraiya, and possibly Shimizu."

"They're  _eight_! They're Genin! They were tortured for no reason!"

"So, you're going to wage a war."

"If they go after her and Minato, how long will it be before they go after Nagato?"

"Kichiro, you're plotting murder! Who knows how many innocents will die once you start that battle? This isn't you, Kichiro, this isn't a mission you're being told to complete, this is entirely your plan."

"I know."

"Do you? You barely have a handful of kills, Kichiro, all of which were in self-defense. You can't even beat me, what makes you think you can win against the most powerful Kage in Suna's history?"

"He uses the Iron Sand, it's in the Bingo Book. He controls metal. My primary weapons are wooden sticks, which are made of Hashirama wood and reinforced with seals. My senbon are made of glass, similarly reinforced. I just don't carry any metal for him to use against me with his magnet release. Not to mention, I'll have the Kyuubi helping me."

"If it doesn't try and escape."

"He won't."

"How do you know you can trust a creature of hatred?"

"He's not a 'creature of hatred' any more than you or I!"

Sakumo shook his head. "It will take you a long time to convince anyone of that."

Scowling, I fell onto my back and glared up at the rainclouds.

"I'm not here to debate with you. The Hokage came up with a potential plan that might just lure out the Kazekage without as much collateral damage as it would for you to just march into Suna and commit suicide."

"Fine, what is it?"

"No, you need to be updated first."

"On what?"

"Somehow, the Ame leader, Hanzō, caught wind of your little stunt with the Uzumaki family."

"What? Was he upset I stole his quarry? He's an idiot for targeting humanitarians."

"No, somehow he knew of the boy's dormant Rinnegan."

"The hell? How?"

"Unknown."

"That throws a wrench in everything."

"It does. The Sandaime suspects that Ame will join forces with Iwa, which provides an ideal opportunity on two fronts. Suna and Kiri made an alliance against Konoha. Publicly shifting our attention to Iwa and Ame will invite Suna and Kiri to attack. Once they commit to an action, the Hokage himself plans to join the fighting."

"About time."

"This is the last time I am going to warn you, Kichiro." Sakumo's voice gained an edge I had only heard a handful of times. "You will be civil when speaking of and with him or there will be consequences."

I huffed.

"He plans on decimating the Kiri lines and forcing them out of the war, but in order to do that, he needs to make sure the Suna line will hold in the meantime."

"Clever. What about Kumo?"

"The second they hear there is a Kage on the front lines, they'll calm down and most likely take advantage of the opening against Kiri."

"Right, but won't it make Konoha look desperate to have Kage on the front lines? It might make the other countries paranoid enough for their own Kage to come out."

"None of the other Kage are a match for our Sandaime."

I shrugged. "The Kazekage could give him a run for his money."

"I doubt that, but considering Suna's penchant for poison, it could become a close match, which is why his advisors refuse to let him attend the Suna front as well."

"So, the plan is to stack the Iwa front, lure Suna and Kiri into an attack and attack Kiri in return? What about Suna?"

"That's my next deployment. In case you've forgotten, I've gained quite the reputation in the past few years and I have the skills to back it up."

"How's the Iwa front going to appear stacked if one of Konoha's prominent Jōnin are headed to Suna?"

"The Sandaime's students, as well as a handful of other prominent Jōnin are headed to Iwa."

"Village defenses?"

"The Hokage's old teammates are remaining to run and defend the village."

"Good for them."

"I want to see what you can do, whether you're ready to actually fight on the front lines or not. Shimizu and Inuzuka are already out on their next mission and if you pass, you'll head out with me to Suna."

"Fine, what's the test?"

"I already know your raw Ninjutsu and Genjutsu capabilities inside and out, but your Taijutsu is constantly evolving. I want to test that."

"With or without weapons?"

"Your chakra must stay inside your body. No other rules."

"You're a Jōnin, this isn't fair."

"Yet you want to face down a Kage?"

"With the Kyuubi and all of my tricks."

"Ah, yes, your tricks. I want to see how good you've gotten without them." Sakumo stood up and held out a hand to help me up.

"So I'm assuming I can't use the Kyuubi."

"Most certainly not. We don't need a village emergency." Apparently he didn't want to wait for me to get up on my own and grabbed the front of my vest to pull me to my feet.

"Whatever." I pulled out my sticks and he drew a bokken. It was a testament to my skill that he needed to limit himself for fear of causing permanent injury to me. "On your mark."

"Begin."

There was a moment of absolute stillness. I took a deep breath.

Sakumo leapt forward and swung his bokken at my head. I ducked and retaliated with a strike to the knee, but the bokken appeared like magic and blocked it, nearly knocking it out of my hand with the strength of the strike. Luckily, I learned a long time ago to hold on to my sticks with chakra instead, which somehow reduced the strength of the impact. It didn't make sense but I did it anyways. The next few seconds I spent blocking what felt like a hundreds attacks at a time. Sakumo was fast and I was barely fast enough to defend. I was quite good at multitasking. Between foiling a clever trip and sending a wild punch at Sakumo's nose to hide an attempt to break a rib or two, I noticed several ANBU surrounding the Hokage and his advisors.

I couldn't touch Sakumo, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I took full advantage of my size and flexibility, as well as juicing up my strength enough that any hit would count, not that any landed, not even the senbon I threw with my foot, hid in my shadow, and came from a direction Sakumo couldn't possibly have seen. He only threw the senbon back at me with a smirk and it landed in my arm. That led to a nasty list of invectives. They were mostly in English, which was lucky for me because of the growing audience. I was beginning to suspect Minato, and possibly Kushina had a hand in it, had the brilliant idea of bringing Nagato to watch me get my ass kicked.

When I noticed an unfamiliar woman emerge from the shadows of the trees, I began to suspect. When two Jōnin appeared between two trees to stop me from using them as cover, I knew. For some reason, a number of people wanted to see Sakumo fight. Or me, but I was betting on the former. During one of the pauses where Sakumo and I just circled each other, I asked.

"How many people did you invite to watch?"

"Pretty much every shinobi in the village. The Chuunin exams were cancelled and since it was partially your fault, everyone needed to see a good fight without the future of the village hanging in the balance."

"Asshole. You could've told me."

"Then you wouldn't've shown up. You could have known if you bothered to stop by the Chuunin base."

"I don't even know where the Chuunin base is."

"Your loss."

Yeah, he was going down hard. The Kyuubi turned on a rolling stream of advice, most of which I adopted, allowing myself to shift into katas I shouldn't have had any way of knowing. Under the influence of the Kyuubi's chakra, my vision shifted slightly and my ability to sense increased a hundredfold.

Sakumo disengaged and swapped his bokken for his actual blade.

"Calm down, Kichiro," he warned, circling. "I told you no using the Kyuubi."

"Come on, it's the only chance I have!" I complained. My voice was a bit deeper and harsher than normal, which was probably part of the problem.

"Your little sister is here; she might get hurt."

I caught a glimpse of myself in Sakumo's blade. The irises of my eyes had changed from bright green to burning red and the pupils narrowed into feral slits. "I'm in control, Sakumo, the Kyuubi is just giving a little friendly advice."

 ** _I'd call this a bit more than advice, little rat,_**  the Kyuubi commented.

"Okay, fine, it's a bit of a strength and speed boost as well, but I promise I'm still me, just a little better."

"This isn't funny, Kichiro."

"Scared of a little Chuunin?" I taunted.

"I'm concerned about this 'friendly advice.'"

I opened my mouth to respond when said 'friendly advice' turned up something not-so-friendly. "Shit!" I screamed. The Kyuubi's chakra turned up several hostile ninjas  _beneath our feet_. The sudden appearance of the Kyuubi's chakra had spooked them into action.

Kushina screamed. I turned and used every ounce of speed I could dredge up. At my shout, Minato had managed to throw Nagato at the nearest Jōnin, then Kushina barreled him out of the way, only to be caught by a wicked-looking kunoichi. I recognized her as the daughter of the woman who occasionally gave me free dango.

"Don't you dare move a muscle, Uzumaki, or I'll rip your precious sister's throat out. That goes for everyone else here!"

I put on my best act, hoping the consequences wouldn't be too severe, and laughed. "You think some pathetic little child would be able force me, the  _Kyuubi no Yōko_ , to bend to your will?" To my surprise,  _everyone_  bought the act. Except Kushina. She knew my acting skills inside and out and had seen my best Kyuubi imitation dozens of times, albeit before he was sealed inside of me.

The kunoichi paled.

I slowly drew one of my sticks and used the Kyuubi's chakra, with a bit of his help, to mold a blade onto it. I pointed it at the kunoichi. The kunoichi lifted Kushina into the air to cover her vitals. Unfortunately for the kunoichi, I was a medic. Sliding a blade between organs was simple, especially when Kushina was discreetly pointing at exactly the right place. Faster than the kunoichi could track, I lunged forward. The blade slid through Kushina's body, then through the kunoichi's. The Kyuubi yanked his chakra away from me. Any longer and I would probably have done myself serious damage. I jerked my stick out of their bodies, knocked the kunoichi out, and caught Kushina before she collapsed. The moment all three of us hit the ground, chaos erupted.


	14. Chapter 14

While I was having my little acting debut, the kunoichi had strung up a nice and pretty Genjutsu that showed me completely losing control and attacking my sister. A bit of cleverness and dumb luck on the kunoichi's part had me grabbing Kushina and landing on top of her exactly like in the Genjutsu. Even the Hokage had been caught in it. His overreaction, using his entire formidable strength to order me to regain control the Kyuubi, automatically trapped me in my mindscape trying to reverse something that never happened.

Luckily, the Jōnin were still somewhat dazed by the release of the Genjutsu that their attacks were slow enough for Kushina to see and roll us both out of the way.

The fact that she refused to let go of me was probably the only reason I wasn't immediately locked up in the highest security vault the village had to offer.

It took me five minutes to escape from my own mindscape, which I found to be incredibly annoying.

"Let me go!" Kushina screamed into my chest, her arms and legs wrapped tightly around my torso as several Jōnin tried to pry her off.

I moaned too weak to sit up.

"Nii-san?" She asked. Her grip around me loosened and someone managed to wrench her arms out from around me. She screamed and sent my chakra across her skin and gave the people holding onto her nasty chakra burns. Her arms snapped back around my neck and she smashed my face into her neck. If I had been a full-size adult, I probably could have let her turn all clingy. Unfortunately, I had a child's body and Kushina was inadvertently suffocating me.

"—breathe!" I managed, barely audible.

"Sorry!" Kushina loosened her grip but didn't release me.

I took a deep breath and ignored the fighting around us. Suddenly someone picked us both up and ran. I couldn't even cling to Kushina. I hoped it was a Konoha shinobi carrying us away from the fighting, but something inside me knew it wasn't.

Without any warning, the arms carrying us were torn away. Someone managed to catch Kushina by the hair, but the grip failed and we hit the ground hard. Well, I hit the ground, Kushina landed on top of me. She quickly rolled off me and felt my pulse, calling my name.

"Minato! Help! He's barely responding! Oh, Kami!" She jerked and her hands tightened around my wrist.

"No!" Minato cried suddenly.

"Minato!" Kushina screamed and the sound of kunai striking flesh sounded above me.

I struggled to move, but my body refused to respond.

**_Stay down, little rat._ **

_Minato's hurt! I have to help him!_

**_By killing yourself? Be patient._ **

Minato slumped over me. The kunai had gone nearly all the way through his chest. A combination of both his and Kushina's blood had all but soaked the front of my Chuunin vest.

 _There's no more time to wait!_  "—shina," I managed, channeling medical chakra into my free hand.

"Nii-san!" Somehow she got the message and grabbed my wrist. After a second, she laid my palm over the hole where the kunai hit Minato's heart.

I barely managed to heal his heart before my chakra spluttered out. "—ospital." Minato wouldn't live for much longer if he didn't get the help of a medic who wasn't half-dead very soon.

Minato's fingers twisted into my haori.

"Leave us alone!" Kushina screamed. Someone kicked my side.

"Pathetic. The kid hailed as a hero can't even save himself." The person grabbed my hair and lifted me to my feet. My body refused to respond to my orders to fight.

"Leave him alone!" Kushina begged.

"Leave him alone!" The shinobi mocked. "Do you recognize me, little girl?" The strain on my scalp opened one of my eyes wide enough to see the shinobi holding me. This was not good. It was undoubtedly Ebizō, one of the Honored Siblings of Sunagakure. I recognized him from the Bingo Book. This was not good.

 ** _Now you can fight._**  All the feeling seemed to rush back into my body at once. It was painful, but worth it.

 _Thank you._ "Run!" I growled at Kushina, opening my eyes just enough to make eye contact. "Minato—" Ebizō slammed a fist into my gut.

Kushina got the message once the Kyuubi's chakra started to lick at my fingers. Her eyes widened in terror. Without hesitation, she lunged for Minato, scooped him up and fled. Ebizō made the mistake of dropping me to go after her. By the time my feet hit the ground, my hands had flashed through a jutsu that turned the ground around me into mud. He sunk into it before he could make it three steps and both Minato and Kushina got away. I knew we were outside of the village even if I didn't exactly know where. If I could just make a big enough commotion, someone would have to come running.

"Go after me, fine, it's my job. I can deal with it. Go after my siblings and we have a problem. I'll give you three choices. One: stay here and take your chances fighting me. Two: go after my siblings and the  _best_  scenario is that you die. Three: leave and tell your Kazekage that he will be dead by the end of this war."

Ebizō pulled himself out of the mud.

I jerked my sticks out of their holsters.

"You can't win, little boy."

"I only have to last two minutes, then they'll be too far away for you to catch."

"Then you'll be captured."

"I don't care." I took a step backwards out of the mud and let it harden back into the ground. "Whenever you're ready, I await your decision."

"Suna," someone snarled behind me. I suddenly had a very, very bad feeling as I glanced over my shoulder to see two Iwa nin accompanied by two nin from Ame, all of which I recognized as Jōnin from the Bingo Book. A second Suna nin appeared and I recognized Chiyo with Minato over her shoulder and a barely conscious Kushina under her arm. Shit. Shit. Shit. I was trapped in the center and the Kyuubi's chakra was covering mine like a second skin. By the end of the week, the entire shinobi world would know I was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Shit. Two Kiri nin appeared. Double shit.

"Looks like we're a little late to the party," the  _Sandaime Raikage_  and a Kumo Jōnin from the Bingo Book appeared to complete the circle around me. Triple shit.

**_This is a very bad situation._ **

_You think? I'm not even sure you could survive for long if a fight breaks out._

**_You have potentially critical information._ **

_They don't know that._

"What little Genin do we have here?" The Raikage asked. Considering only his own jutsu could make it past the man's shield and the fact that the man was a  _Kage_  meant that he probably had the right to start off the conversation, if anyone.

I didn't bother responding, everyone here knew exactly who I was, the haori and red hair was a dead giveaway.

"You look familiar, little boy, tell me, what's your name again?" He taunted.

I forced myself to think. There was always a way out. There had to be. There had to be something I was better at than anyone here.

**_Face it, kid, if these people have half a brain between them, they'll go after you first then fight over you like a prize to be won. You're a smart kid, but you can't outwit ten ninjas by yourself and your body just can't win, even if I'm in control. Your best bet is to go quietly and hope for a chance to escape later on._ **

_It doesn't mean I have to go gentle into that good night._

"I asked you your name, boy," the Raikage snapped impatiently. I grinned.

I probably would have gotten slapped upside the head for the cheek I had planned if Sakumo was there to hear me. Unfortunately, I was more concerned by the fact there were ten enemy nin surrounding me and the two most important people in the village, in my opinion, were dying in enemy hands. I turned to Chiyo. "You will let me heal those two Genin or I release the Kyuubi right now and none of us make it out alive."

**_You will not! You still owe me, little rat._ **

_Good to know my bluffing skills are still intact. You make a very good threat, so quit your griping._

The Kyuubi subsided into angry grumbling. Chiyo threw Minato at me. I caught him, not even sliding on the ground, and knelt with him propped against me, mostly to start draining the blood from his lungs. I quickly tore his shirt open, feeling nauseous. I could heal the wounds, but by that time, he would be dead via exsanguination. I no longer felt paranoid for looking up Minato's blood type. He was B-positive, the same as Kushina and myself. It would work. I used one of Minato's kunais to cut a three-inch line into the inside of my left wrist, as well as an identical line into Minato's, then pressed the cuts together in a bastardization of a blood transfusion. Sure, chakra accomplished what tubes and needles would normally do, as well as kept my blood flowing into him, but if Tsunade caught me trying an untested stunt like it, she would probably skin me alive. With my right hand, I turned to healing the two holes in his chest.

There were never full healings on the battlefield. As soon as I knew Minato was stable enough to remain not-dead for the time being, if in horrible pain and unable to move, I laid him on the ground and finished the blood transfusion. In an hour, he would either be dead by the hand of one of the enemies surrounding us or in Konoha's hospital in emergency surgery. I couldn't risk any more chakra in case an actual fight broke out and I was forced to defend him.

"Now the girl!" I demanded.

"Trade."

The Raikage chuckled behind me. "Give him his sister. I want to see what he does."

Well, that would be a mistake, Mr. Raikage, but go ahead, you don't have to know I know exactly how to counter your best jutsu. He had the scar over his chest so I was sure I knew what he was going to pull on me, considering I was a Jinchuuriki and he had to counter the Hachibi on a semi-regular basis.

I caught Kushina. It only took me a few seconds to patch her up as well, and only another minute to complete a second blood transfusion.

I stood up, slightly shaky on my feet, but the Kyuubi's crude healing fortified me after a few seconds.

I faced the Raikage, rightly deeming him the biggest threat, and stood with both Minato and Kushina lying between my feet. The Kyuubi's chakra coated my skin, a few inches thick, and formed a cocoon around Minato and Kushina, careful not to touch their skin.

"You can't win this,  _Kichiro-kun_." The Raikage started to form his supposedly impenetrable defense.

"No, I'm certain  _I_  can't, but the Kyuubi is much more powerful than the Hachibi."

"So, you're a perfect Jinchuuriki then? That's quite the accomplishment for one so young. I see I originally targeted the wrong sibling."

"You most certainly did. I'm willing to forgive faults against me, but the moment you so much as threaten my family, you will die."

"Was that a death threat to me?"

"Certainly."

"Big words for such a little boy."

Kushina pushed herself up and started to use the blood soaking Minato to draw a desperate seal on her palm. Luckily, she wouldn't need to use it and I couldn't resist my own little amusement. "You seem to be laboring under the delusion that I'm going to, what was the phrase, come quietly? I can tell you this, I have no intention of going to Azkaban—"

"He's stalling," one of the Kiri nin snapped.

"Am I?" I grinned. Each of them had shadows pooling around their feet. I released my control over the Kyuubi's chakra. Sakumo leapt down and grabbed my wrist before I could run forward to kill the Raikage with Minato's fancy new kunai.

"I think peace negotiations would be more helpful at this point than revenge, Kichiro."

"Fine,  _Sensei_ ," I snapped back and returned Minato's kunai. Sakumo kept a firm grip on my shoulder as if he thought I was going to attack anyways.

More than a few eyes widened at my address. Sakumo was probably expecting it and I got the feeling he liked being called 'sensei'. I made a note to call him sensei in front of any enemies if the sudden cautiousness they regarded me with was anything to go by. Then again, the White Fang was one of Konoha's more feared ninjas and if he was passing on his skill, there would probably soon be a second. Combine that with the fact I was a S-ranked combination of Tsunade and Sakumo in the making, with a nearly limitless chakra supply, I was sure that, if any of those assembled got word back to their home village, I would be immediately bumped up from a D-rank threat to a B-rank in the Bingo Books.

The Hokage himself stepped between me and the Raikage.

"Very clever, old monkey," the Raikage sneered. "But you can't force me to sign any treaties."

"No, but the Shodai Hokage's offer still stands."

Sakumo's hand tightened on my shoulder in surprise, while the Raikage's expression turned stony. No one else in the clearing seemed to understand the reference. When I figured it out, my eyes widened in surprise. Sakumo's grip tightened painfully as I opened my mouth to demand how in the nine circles of Hades the Hokage planned to fight and seal the Hachibi, at least without an Uzumaki Fūinjutsu master to help him.

"Uzumaki-kun, Hatake-san, my office. Genin, report to the hospital and  _stay there_. Jōnin, I want all enemies taken to the holding cells in the interrogation department. Bring the Raikage to the basement. Kill them if they resist."

"Congratulations on becoming the first perfect Jinchuuriki," the Raikage said as Sakumo steered me away. "I'll be sure to keep my eye on you, Uzumaki."

I knew Kumo operated on a slightly different system than the rest of the hidden villages, but the Raikage's acknowledgment, even if it did have a thinly veiled threat behind it, was not something I expected. Then again, the Raikage probably had more experience with the power of the tailed beasts than any other living person at this point.

"Hokage-sama!" Kushina interrupted. She stood up, swaying slightly and holding her side where I had stabbed her. She wasn't going to be released from the hospital for a while, considering it could be several days before I'd be allowed to see her. She pressed several seal tags into the Hokage's hand and would have pitched sideways if he hadn't caught her.

"Right on time, thank you, Kushina-chan."

A smallish ANBU appeared at the Hokage's shoulder and gently pulled Kushina onto his back. When he bent down to pick up Minato, who was barely conscious, Sakumo continued to drag me away. Once we were out of sight and earshot, Sakumo slapped the back of my head.

"What was that for?" I demanded, swaying. The Hokage's order felt like it was still screwing with my balance.

"Principle."

"Hey, it all turned out just fine!"

"I couldn't care less. Your Genin sister getting abducted is one thing, but you? You're in for one hell of a training regime once this war is over." Sakumo swung me up onto his back. "We need to make two stops before we head to the Hokage tower."

"Go ahead."

The first stop was to an unfamiliar house in the middle of a small clan compound.

"This is your house, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Kichiro, meet my wife, Kaori," Sakumo introduced me to the woman running out of the front door. I recognized her as one of the first spectators in our spar earlier. "She's a Jōnin, so don't be getting any funny ideas about pranking my house." I noticed the blood splattered across the front of her vest indicating she had fought earlier. She was also limping, but didn't seem to be in any unbearable pain.

"Wait a minute—you're  _married_?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

"At least she's hot."

Sakumo dropped me on my ass for that little comment.

"You know, I've never seen anyone get you riled up like that, Sakumo," Kaori said after greeting him with a kiss.

"So, when's the baby coming?" I asked sarcastically.

"You're nine," Kaori deadpanned.

"So? I'm a medic."

She laughed. "I like your student, Sakumo. What took you so long to bring him around?"

"I never would have if I didn't have a choice. Did you get it?"

"Of course, I got it, what do you take me for?"

"Well, I handed it off for a reason."

"No, you were worried your student wouldn't go all out against anyone else he fought so you made a call." Kaori handed Sakumo something I couldn't quite see.

"Alright, what's going on?" I demanded, suspicious.

"Nothing, we have one more stop to make." Sakumo picked me up off the ground and pulled me onto his back again and took off. The second we landed outside my apartment, Fusō burst out of the door.

"Thank heavens you're alright! What about Minato and Kushina?" She asked worriedly.

"Is Nagato—" I began.

"He's fine."

"Minato and Kushina are headed to the hospital. They'll be perfectly fine."

"We're not here to catch up, Uzumaki-san. The hospital needs experienced assistants, and I'm sure you would like to go visit." Sakumo pulled out two scrolls. "The Hokage has formally requested that you and your husband offer your assistance there."

"What about Nagato?"

"The details can be worked out at a later date."

Fusō took the two scrolls. "Thank you, Hatake-san."

Sakumo nodded once and jumped away.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded when we landed outside the Hokage tower.

"Classified." I blinked and we were inside the Hokage's office.

The Hokage was already sitting behind his desk as Sakumo set me on my feet. I slumped into the nearest chair.

"Your arrogance almost ruined a trap a year in the making," the Hokage snapped at me. "Though I have to commend you for inadvertently bringing it to fruition in the process."

I felt like the rug had just been pulled out from underneath me. "What plan?" I snapped.

"Luring the Raikage here."

"What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"What does the Raikage have to do with anything?"

The Hokage appeared annoyed.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, he didn't have clearance for any of the pertinent details and has no way to deduce the situation," Sakumo placated.

"Acknowledged. Kichiro-kun, approximately a year ago, Konoha received a report that the Hachibi had escaped from its host in Kumo. They needed a new host for the Bijū. We suspected they would target one of the remaining Uzumaki in Konoha. We wrongly assumed it would be you, considering you were older and stronger than your sister. A few months later, as you're aware, your sister was kidnapped through an intentional opening in the village defenses, which was why no one was alerted when you went after your sister."

My jaw clenched angrily.

"Knowing the character of the Raikage, we have made it somewhat of a priority to hold as many Kumo Jōnin prisoner as we are capable of. As of today, several dozen Jōnin have been captured. We have sent ransom offers, but until now, there has been no response. We were aware that Kumo was planning a rescue mission of some kind, considering the number of captured became a ridiculous percentage of their fighting force."

The percentage was probably only in the single-digits but to even possess one percent of an opposing country's Jōnin force was unheard of.

"The Raikage puts his shinobi before himself and it was only reasonable that he would personally lead a rescue force. For the past week-and-a-half, we have suspected that he may be in the area, but we had no possible way to draw him out. At the same time, we were alerted that a combination of Suna and Kiri forces were preparing to attack. With that information, I ordered Sakumo to lure them to the edge of the village, by purposely dropping hints to the Suna nin tailing him."

"So that's why you were explaining a war strategy to me in the middle of an unsecured training ground."

"The entire conversation was scripted," the Hokage assured me. "We cancelled the Chuunin Exams and put out word of a spar, coded so that Konoha shinobi would know the basics of the plan and would play along. Sakumo began the spar with you and we waited."

"That was why I told you no Ninjutsu," Sakumo explained.

"When you pulled out the Kyuubi's power, you unveiled a dangerous Iwa operative, which nearly made the entire plan fall apart. Fortunately for everyone, except perhaps you, her Genjutsu affected everyone no matter the village. During the ensuing confusion, you were kidnapped by Suna. At that point, I feared the entire plan had fallen apart, until you drew on the Kyuubi's power while surrounded. After that, it was a simple task to rout the Suna-Kiri invasion and send out a capture force. Your confidence had us worried the Raikage would catch on to our ruse. Fortunately, he didn't, and everyone, excepting a few Kiri nin, lived to tell the tale."

In my opinion, Konoha just got incredibly lucky the half-assed plan actually worked.


	15. Chapter 15

"Out of curiosity, how did you get the Iwa agent to drop her guard?" Sakumo asked curiously.

"I pretended to be the Kyuubi."

The Hokage and Sakumo flinched.

"Oh, for heaven's sake! Quit being such sticks in the mud. It worked, didn't it?"

"Kid, watching you start to transform and attack your little sister is not a pleasant experience," Sakumo commented.

"Yeah, well, don't get caught in a Genjutsu next time. I wasn't caught. Wanna guess why? The Kyuubi, so I would appreciate it if you at least talked about him civilly while in my presence. Better yet, let's include him in the conversation!"

**_I have nothing to say to those creatures._ **

_I'm making them be nice, so you need to return the favor._

**_I'll return the favor when the favor's been given._ **

"Enough about the Kyuubi, Kichiro-kun."

I scowled. "At some point before I make Jōnin I'm going to have to transform, at least to see what I can do, so get over it, I'm not going to go insane."

The Hokage just changed the subject. "Hatake-san has insisted that you are ready for promotion to Tokubetsu Jōnin."

I rolled my eyes. "There has to be a mission requirement for a promotion like that."

"Mission count means nothing. Today's spar was supposed to determine whether you were ready."

"I don't specialize in combat. If anything, I specialize in medical Ninjutsu."

"I am aware, but several other things have also been brought to my attention. You are pursuing an interest in Fūinjutsu, correct?"

"No, that's Kushina. And Minato by extension."

"The seals you've developed claim differently."

"Just a few explosive notes and storage seals." It wasn't a lie, I had only made a few explosive notes and one or two storage seals.

"I have invested more than a passing interest in Fūinjutsu myself and I can assure you, these are not explosive notes." He held up a stack of my notes.

Shit. How did he find those? They were supposed to be sealed away with the rest of the Uzumaki records. I scowled in response while the Hokage made a show of shuffling through my notes.

"It seems like you've delved deeply into one particular branch of Fūinjutsu."

My arms crossed defensively.

"Your notes are missing a very conspicuous seal."

I rolled my eyes.

"From this, I get the impression you knew you would become the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki for some time beforehand."

"I never gave any reason for you to think differently."

He laid the papers down.

"Is there a problem? I'm entitled to my own research."

"You were seven years old when this research began and it stopped shortly before you were first deployed. The references here in your notes are not to any library or any base of information in Konoha. In fact, I distinctly remember a visit I made to the Uzushiogakure library, about five years ago, and these references match up quite well. In fact, if I didn't know better, I would assume you learned from the Uzu library itself."

I didn't answer.

"Tell me, how did you obtain access to information?"

"I am fully capable of reading."

The Hokage took a deep breath. "Hatake-san, do you know how your student has such extensive knowledge in Fūinjutsu?"

"I only addressed the topic a handful of times when explaining the standard use of storage seals and again when teaching him to utilize explosive notes. All other knowledge he has obtained on his own, thus I cannot answer your question."

"Over the past two-and-a-half years, you've caused me more headaches than any other individual in this village, Kichiro-kun."

"My pleasure." Maybe that comment was a little uncalled for.

The Hokage held up one of the seals, the Shiki Fūjin. "How did you gain access to this seal?"

There was no compulsion to answer, so I remained silent.

"Did you share this with anyone?"

"Do you take me for an idiot?" I demanded. "Of course, I didn't, but your student gave a copy to my sister if you're worried about information leaks. I told her it was a forbidden seal so I doubt she shared it with anyone other than Minato."

"How do you know it's forbidden?"

"It's suicide to use, the fact is written all over the seal. If it wasn't forbidden, it should be."

"Almost all of these other seals can be used to seal a Bijū."

"I knew I'd end up becoming a Jinchuuriki, so I thought I'd get ahead and try and figure out what seal would be used beforehand. It didn't work if you're interested. Mito created an entire new seal array and I'm only partway through deciphering it."

"Why does the seal matter?"

"I'm an Uzumaki and I'm curious. Besides, I might as well figure it out before Minato and Kushina take an interest."

The Hokage nodded. "Are you capable of using these seals?"

"Yes," I gritted out. "But it will be against my will."

"From your earlier reaction, I assume you understood my proposal to the Raikage."

"Yes."

"I plan on sealing the Hachibi into one of the Kumo shinobi in exchange for an agreement of peace."

"Kumo is perfectly capable of sealing their own Bijū."

"Their seals don't last and end up forcing the Jinchuuriki to control the Hachibi alone."

"Yeah, how are you going to persuade the Raikage to let Konoha get their hands on the Hachibi and expect us to just give him back."

"Because you will be the only one to attend the sealing."

"Yeah, the Raikage is going to let a nine-year-old take that kind of responsibility."

"Well, right now, your sister is the only other person available with the Uzumaki chakra necessary to safely perform such a seal."

"Uzumaki chakra isn't required."

"I'd like to keep Kumo thinking it is."

"Why?"

"I suppose you would rather go out to one of the other war fronts and handle that yourself."

**_The Hachibi is in no state to help advocate for the freedom of the tailed beasts. Take your Hokage's offer and seal him on your terms and mine._ **

"Kichiro-kun?"

_I don't want to do this._

**_Then leave the Hachibi to be repeatedly sealed by a faulty seal, escape and attack the village, furthering the hatred focused at my siblings._ **

_It doesn't mean I want to sentence someone to becoming a Jinchuuriki. They probably won't even have a choice in the matter._

**_Then demand that you pick out the next Hachibi Jinchuuriki from the Raikage._ **

_He won't listen._

**_You don't understand the fear that accompanies any mention of myself and my siblings. He will concede._ **

_Fine. I still don't like this._

**_You are perfectly entitled to your opinion, but you will do it. I believe the Nibi is also held by Kumo, so I want you to take a trip and meet that Jinchuuriki._ **

_You're not the boss of me._

**_When it comes to my siblings, I am._ **

I scowled. " _Fine_ ," I answered everyone. "But only on two conditions. First, I choose from a list of candidates in whom the Hachibi will be sealed. Second, I go to Kumo to perform the sealing and meet the host of the Nibi."  _You've thought through freeing your siblings._

**_I have._ **

_Care to share?_

**_No._ **

_Sharing is caring._

**_Shut up, little rat._ **

_Two heads are better than one._

**_Not when one is your head._ **

_At least come up with something legitimate. I don't listen to ad hominem arguments._

He just ignored me.

_I'm still curious._

"Uzumaki, are you listening?"

"Not to you. What do you want,  _Hokage-sama_?"

"You're in communication with the Kyuubi."

"Yes, I am and you can't stop me."

Both the Hokage and Sakumo's jaws tightened, but they didn't comment.

Someone knocked loudly on the door.

"Enter," the Hokage called out. The council trudged in a moment later. "Thank you for arriving promptly. I will get straight to the point. In a few minutes, I will be going to the Raikage to propose an agreement. Konoha with securely seal the Hachibi for Kumo in exchange for a cease-fire."

"This is unwise," Danzō said immediately. "Konoha is still strong—"

"Konoha is strong enough now, but if we continue fighting this war on four fronts, we will lose. The Kiri and Suna conflicts can be resolved within the year, but the conflict with Iwa could extend for some time, our villages are too well-balanced."

"This agreement appears as if Konoha lost the war!"

"It is not the entirety of the agreement, councilman. Kumo also possesses the Nibi, whose host is not yet a shinobi. The agreement will be a tailed beast and a non-aggression treaty in exchange for the sealing of the Hachibi."

**_Interesting. I approve of this agreement._ **

_No one asked you._

"Will this individual be incorporated into the village forces?"

The female council member intervened before the Hokage could answer, "Shimura-san's point is valid. Through a stroke of luck, we have the Raikage in custody and the ability to make any demands we wish."

"Sure, we can demand that Kumo defer completely to Konoha," I argued, "But Kumo will not abide by unfair terms for any length of time and should we win any of the other wars, the moment Kumo breaks contract it will incite the other nations to do so as well and possibly ally themselves against us. We could not survive against a formal alliance of the other nations."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," the Hokage agreed with me.

"Do you always allow Genin to control your arguments, Sarutobi?"

I snorted. "Chuunin," I corrected. "I'm a Chuunin and I know I've mentioned this before."

The woman glared at me, furious.

"Hold your tongue, Uzumaki," the Hokage ordered. I made a show of zipping my lips closed and the Hokage whipped a kunai at me that just barely grazed my cheek. Sakumo slapped the back of my head. "Now, I have already begun discussing Uzumaki-kun's role in this matter with him and his analysis of my point of view is accurate. As of right now, Kumo is under the impression that an Uzumaki is essential to a successful, enduring seal and I wish to maintain that illusion. Thus, Uzumaki-san will be essential to this process. I will not tolerate disrespect on anyone's part, is that understood?"

I glared at the Hokage, but nodded anyways. I could be polite. Reluctantly, the council members agreed. Sakumo had melted into the background, his presence all but forgotten.

"Now, this is the agreement which will be presented to the Raikage, who is waiting in the basement. I do not wish to arrive with an entourage. My current choice of a companion is Uzumaki-kun. I know there is an objection to this. Besides his age, is there any legitimate objection to this? If so, what is a better alternative. Shimura-san, do you have anything to say?" I winced.

Danzō ignored the veiled jibe. "First, Uzumaki-san has no experience in politics. To place him in such a position would be unwise. Second, Uzumaki-san is nine. Even the most prodigious of individuals his age are no match for a Kage. Taking a boy like him would only weaken your position."

I opened my mouth to counter, but the Hokage cut me off with a look. I clamped my mouth shut.

"My final point is that if he can't keep himself under control in a situation with minor repercussions, how can you trust him in a meeting with one of the other Kage?"

I didn't move, but in my head, I acknowledged that Danzō did have a point. Then again, I knew I'd probably attack the Raikage once or twice if I was forced into the same room with him for an extended period. The Hokage would probably spend more time keeping heads from rolling than negotiating.

"I agree with Shimura-san," the two other council members chorused.

The Hokage looked at me. I shrugged. "Do you want me to defend myself or something?"

"Considering you were just accused of ineptitude and immaturity I expect you to be a bit more indignant."

"Well, you have no intention of changing your mind, so I don't see how arguing would change the outcome, aside from setting the minds of your council at rest, but the council isn't a group of people to be placated, but a group meant to advise." Take that for immature and incompetent.

The Hokage looked back at Danzō, who was not happy.

"He's still a boy! How do you intend to maintain your power with a child—"

I frowned, the argument didn't feel right.

"We have our differences, Shimura-san, but in this case, I believe a child would have a bigger impact on the Raikage than any Jōnin I could choose to accompany me. I'm sure you understand the importance of providing a united front. You discredit Uzumaki-kun's accomplishments. If I recall correctly, he was one of the reasons the war with Suna turned in our favor, as well as a significant part of the reason we are still holding the front with Iwa. We both know Kumo has a much more liberal point of view concerning Jinchuuriki. The Raikage has recognized Uzumaki-kun as the first perfect Jinchuuriki, whatever that means."

"It means someone who has partnered with the Bijū sealed inside of them and has potentially increased their strength by an exponential factor," I explained.

"If you're so strong, why haven't you been on the warfront?" Danzō demanded.

"I—"

"Enough! Shimura-san, you have proven yourself incapable of giving sound advice and remaining respectful to the other parties present."

"He's still your teammate, Sarutobi," one of the remaining council reproached. "Such action in present company is inappropriate."

"No, the actions of this council are inappropriate!" The Hokage stood up sharply.

I did not want to be here for this fallout, entertaining as it may become. I knew drama when I saw it. "I'll wait outside—" I moved to leave.

"Sit down, Uzumaki," he ordered. The seal on my forehead gave a painful twinge to make his point.

"I really should—"

" _Sit down_."

I sat and yanked the kunai out of the back of my seat then tossed it onto the Hokage's desk.

The Hokage motioned at the wall. I glanced in that direction and noticed someone push themself off the wall. I recognized them as an Uchiha, who looked slightly strange dressed in the standard Jōnin uniform instead of the uniform of the Military Police I was accustomed to. Instead of a hitai-ate, I noticed he had a strip of black cloth around his forehead before my attention was drawn back to Danzō.

"Uchiha Kagami?" Danzō exclaimed in disbelief. "He died over fifteen years ago, what game are you playing, Sarutobi?"

"This is no  _game_ , Shimura-san! We are in the middle of a war! When Uzumaki-kun made that off-handed comment about your personal army, Shimura-san, I thought you were just covering holes in our defenses, quietly feeding intelligence, maybe covering a few missions my shinobi didn't have the time or energy to complete. Since he was declared dead, Uchiha Kagami has been working as a non-entity. I gave him the task of summarizing your activities alongside Hatake-san."

Danzō's jaw clenched.

"What was meant to be a task of a few hours turned into a three-day  _investigation_  alongside an entire team, an investigation that has still not been completed." The Hokage picked up a large box from behind his desk and slammed it onto the desk. "These files provide the picture of an extremely detailed campaign against the Uchiha clan. One thing caught my attention. Orders, thankfully not yet filed, limiting the Uchiha to village guards and ordinary police!"

Wait, what? How were the Uchiha already being marginalized? How long was the coup in the making?

"You look a little confused, Kichiro-kun. Let me say this plainly, this council has acted behind my back and undermined my authority, not because of a mistrust of my leadership abilities, but because they have personal interests and grudges which did not align with the village as a whole."

Yeah, I should have ignored orders and just left, damn the consequences. I had no right to be in this room.

"The three of you may not be specifically beholden to the needs of the people of this village, but I am. The Uchiha clan helped found this village, and I'll be damned before this leadership is turned against its own people! Do you have any idea of the potential fallout of these policies, Shimura-san? The Uchiha are a powerful, and prideful, clan and if they turn on the village there will be little left for the other countries to sweep away."

"The Uchiha are cursed! Whether we give them reason or not, they will turn against us. It is in our best interests to make sure they don't have the strength necessary to tear apart this village from the inside!"

"No, it's in  _your_ best interests, not the village."

"Your sensei—"

"I'm perfectly aware of the Nidaime's dislike of the Uchiha clan, he lived through a time when his clan waged an endless war against the Uchiha. That war is over and the enmity should have died with him."

"You're implying you  _planned_  the death of the Nidaime—"

"How dare you! Tobirama-sensei taught me everything I know!" The Hokage roared and I barely had a chance to brace myself before the power of the two men swept through the room. My chair shuddered as Sakumo grabbed the back to steady himself. I couldn't even muster up any humor at the fact that Sakumo was the second-youngest in the room. Power-wise, every individual in the room could theoretically grind Sakumo and I into the ground twice over, even with the Kyuubi's assistance. By the time that thought finished processing, I was unconscious.


	16. Chapter 16

When I woke up, I lay on an old futon. Sakumo sat at my feet, holding his head. Uchiha Kagami crouched beside me.

"Feeling better?" Kagami asked.

"No," I responded. "What happened?"

"Do not feel bad, your sensei collapsed shortly after you. I think the rest of that argument is better left in the past. As soon as you recover, the Hokage wants to meet you."

"About the Raikage?"

"Yes."

"Can it wait until tomorrow?"

"No." Kagami helped me sit up. "I should introduce myself. Uchiha Kagami," he held out a hand. I took it, swaying slightly. "Shortly before you became a Genin, it became my job to prevent Kumo from obtaining an Uzumaki. I made the mistake of assuming Kumo would target you instead of your sister. It was a bad call on my part, I apologize."

"Well, why didn't you do anything once you knew?"

"I did. I placed a Genjutsu on her sensei to prompt him to help so you wouldn't need your memory scrubbed of my existence."

"Clever, did Jiraiya ever figure out the Genjutsu?"

"You would have met me much sooner if he did."

"Well, am I going to get my memory scrubbed of you now?"

Kagami laughed lightly. "Hell no, it's time I come back into the boring, old standard forces, my use in the shadows has expired. Besides, it's been too long since I last got to embarrass my best student." He ruffled Sakumo's hair.

"Only student," Sakumo corrected, sounding nearly as nauseous as when I screwed up the Genjutsu I was supposed to be testing on him.

"Now you're all grown up with your own cute little student who gives you almost as much trouble as you gave me."

"Please don't give him any ideas, sensei."

"Almost as much trouble? I feel like I, um, failed a test of some sort."

"You have to be a damn good genius to give someone as much trouble as Sakumo gave me. Anyways, you looking for a hot date, kid?" Kagami put his arm around my shoulder as if I was his best buddy.

"What?"

"He's  _nine_ , Sensei. Is no one free of your insufferable romanticism?"

"You were six when I said you'd marry that girl. What was her name? Ah, I remember, Kaori. Now look who—"

Sakumo elbowed Kagami in the gut.

"Still, I'm always right! Most of the time."

"Leave my student alone."

Kagami fell back laughing insanely as the door opened to reveal the Hokage, his face sour.

"Good to know you're enjoying your newfound freedom, Kagami. Kichiro-kun, are you ready?"

"No," I muttered and inched away from the crazy Uchiha.

"He doesn't bite, Kichiro-kun," the Hokage commented with some amusement.

"Yeah, but someone dosed him with laughing gas and I don't want any."

"Lighten up, kid," Kagami patted me on the back, much rougher than strictly necessary. "The bastard Raikage isn't all that scary. Besides, he'll be all tied up with chakra-binding seals so you won't have to worry about a thing."

"I'm more concerned that I'm being haunted by some kind of ghost."

"I'm not a ghost!"

"History books say you died due to injuries from the same mission that brought about the Nidaime's death."

He snorted. "Looked me up, didn't you?"

"No, I just paid attention to history class."

"You've never taken a single damn history class, kid."

"Looked me up, didn't you?"

"Obviously! Can't have my cute little student picking up a random brat from a different world, he does things like that."

I jerked away, alarmed, but he just winked at me then turned away.

"Hey, Monkey Man, the bastard can stew for a while, let's go celebrate my 'newfound freedom'! My daughter will be there!"

"Kagami—"

"Everyone needs to lighten up here! Come on! Let intel do their deal and this war can be as good as won. Come on! I got who knew to meet us at my place with booze and—"

"Your daughter is nine," Sakumo pointed out.

"Your point? She'll have Kichiro-kun to hang out with and a nice, private training ground to mess around in. Someone needs to make sure we all get home tonight, might as well be the kids."

"I have to—" I tried to get out of this impromptu meeting.

"Your cute little siblings are going to be unconscious for the next twenty-four hours and the rest of your family fell asleep about a half-hour ago and gave your bed to the squirt. You're not going to be able to sleep for a while and my little girl could use a boyfriend."

"How—"

"Shadow clones." Kagami hauled me over his shoulder. "I miss when I could do this to Sakumo—"

"Let me go!" I demanded. If I wanted to, I probably could have fought my way out of his grip, but attacking a Jōnin, who I was certain happened to be quite close to Kage level considering how he seemed to mess with Sakumo with impunity, never ended well without a very surefire way of escape, which I certainly did not have. "I'm no one's boyfriend!"

"Sorry, kid, if little Yasu likes you, I'm not letting you break her heart."

"What the hell, man, let me go!"

"Nope."

I kicked and writhed, I even tried to replace myself with everything in the room, but Kagami seemed to know all my tricks. His shoulder pressed painfully into the bruise on my side but I was too proud to show the pain.

"Seal-less substitution is a nice touch. Sakumo didn't get the hang of that until he was thirteen."

The Hokage chuckled. "Perhaps I do need a few hours to enjoy myself."

"Don't compare me to Sakumo!" I protested at the same time as Kagami led the march out of the room.

"That's what us old guys are here for; to embarrass the younger generation."

"I thought the older generation was just there to get beaten up by the younger," I scowled.

"Give it a few more decades and you might stand more than five seconds against me, kid."

I snarled in annoyance and struggled the entire way through the village. We stopped in front of an old, abandoned building in the section of the village most densely populated by Uchiha. Kagami dropped me on the ground, seeming merely amused by my threats of revenge and inventive curses.

"Kai!" Kagami shouted with far too much enthusiasm. The abandoned, run-down building suddenly appeared to refurbish itself within seconds. "Yasu!" He hollered. "To-chan's secret mission is over!"

A girl cheered loudly from inside the house and raced out the door a moment later. He swung her up off the ground and onto his back as she giggled. "Does that mean I can introduce you to my team?"

"Sure! I'll take you to training tomorrow, how does that sound?"

She cheered as a woman stepped out of the house.

"Ka-chan! Guess what? To-chan's secret mission is over!"

"I heard," she said patiently as Kagami greeted her with a kiss, quickly ushering everyone inside. "Nice of you to finally bring your student around, Sakumo-kun." The woman smiled widely. I had tried to hang back in hopes they forgot about me, but no luck. She held out a hand to me. "I'm Uchiha Rei, it's nice to meet you, Kichiro-kun."

I didn't have anything against Kagami or his family, but I felt like I was being dragged to someone else's family reunion.

"Kagami and Hiruzen are changing in there. Dinner is about to be put on the table, so hurry up."

Sakumo pulled me into the room. The Hokage had hung his official robes on a hook beside the door and was pulling off the armor beneath it. The hat had been left in the Hokage tower.

"Hang up your haori beside the Hokage's things and toss your hitai-ate and vest somewhere with your senbon pouch," Sakumo instructed.

"Why?" I asked.

Sakumo smiled but Kagami answered. "There's no ranks in my house so you're just a kid here, Kichiro-kun."

I was all for not being a shinobi. Sakumo and the Hokage left before I managed to take off my vest. The soreness from fighting Sakumo earlier that day as well as the minor injuries during the invasion afterwards, coupled with the extended use of the Kyuubi's chakra over the past few days left me extremely sore. Kagami finished wrapping his knuckles with strips of black cloth but hesitated before taking a knee in front of me and deftly helped me take off the stiff vest without raising my arms and stretching the already-torn skin from being tossed around.

"You should have said something, kid, and I wouldn't have thrown you around like that."

I shrugged. "I never got a moment to heal it."

"Heal it now."

I hesitated, then lifted my shirt to look at the bruises. Kagami didn't react when he saw the impressive array of red and purple marks around my torso.

"To-chan?" Yasu asked from the doorway. "Ka-chan says dinner's waiting."

"We'll be there in a minute."

"Okay."

A minute later, I had finished healing. Kagami wrapped the palms of my hands with a few strips of white cloth and did the same thing in place of my hitai-ate. He put a hand on my shoulder. "Hopefully you're never in the same position as me, just not existing in the world for over a decade, but I want to tell you that the few people who knew I was alive, that I existed, became very precious to me. Sakumo is one of those people. You probably haven't noticed since he's extremely good at hiding it, but he's prone to just becoming very depressed, often for no reason. I guess I just want you to know you've done a lot more for him over the past two-and-a-half years than he's ever done for you. You probably don't understand—"

"I understand."

"Then thank you. Come on, let's go eat!"

"Hey!" I protested as he tossed me back over his shoulder and carried me out.

"Who's ready to be fed by the best damn cook in the shinobi nations?" He announced as I kicked him in the stomach. It had no effect.

When he set me down, nicely this time, when I turned around, I found Yasu flying at me. I yelped and ducked just in time to get out of the way. The adults laughed as she flung herself at me a second time.

"What the hell? Leave me alone!" I dodged a second time and slid underneath the low table and out the other side. She jumped over the table at me, but the girl's mother caught her around the waist and sat her down. Everyone else took a seat. I weighed my options and decided I wanted to avoid the three Uchiha more than I wanted to express my dislike of the Hokage and sat down with Sakumo on my right and the Hokage at the end of the table on my left.

The meal was simple, traditional, and the awkwardness quickly dissolved. There were a few other people there: Sakumo's wife, the Hokage's wife and team, and the Uchiha clan head and his family.

It was halfway through the meal before I recognized the scowling teenager sitting stiffly across from me. I jerked sharply.

"You alright?" Sakumo asked quietly.

The Hokage watched out of the corner of his eye as he continued the conversation.

"I'm fine," I responded. "I'll be right back." I stood up and went outside.

After a minute, I heard someone follow me out as I sat down on the back porch steps. Tsunade sat down beside me.

"You look awful," she commented bluntly. "What happened in there?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Fine, I just thought of something and I didn't want everyone looking at me."

"What did you think of?"

"Right now, I'm thinking of you leaving."

"People are worried about you."

"This doesn't have anything to do with anything."

"Then—"

"Go away." I stared out over the backyard-turned-training-ground, barely able to make out the shapes of the trees just beyond the fence.

"I know it's hard while your sister—"

"It has absolutely nothing to do with what happened today, I promise. I have no intention of going down any dangerous thought trails so just relax and go back to the party, I just need a few minutes to figure something out." Still suspicious, Tsunade left.

I wasn't particularly surprised at Fugaku's appearance, more at how obviously interconnected the strongest people of the shinobi world were. As an obvious orphan, in canon, Minato would have had no connection. From what I could gather, at his inauguration, Minato was the shinobi nations' Carnegie. There was probably a better analogy, but the history I remembered was beginning to fade and I didn't have Google to refresh it. Naruto's fascination with the Yondaime suddenly made a lot more sense, considering the three other Hokages all had their own mighty accomplishments and were consistently overshadowed by the Yondaime, even though his reign barely lasted a year. There was a much bigger picture forming in my head, but that was the gist of it.

"Kichiro-kun!" Kagami called out. "You might want to get in here before Sakumo shreds your reputation!"

I rolled my eyes and obliged.

"He lives!" Kagami cried as I entered. He had obviously started on the drink, as had most of the other adults, while Fugaku was making a valiant attempt to sneak his taste. Unfortunately, even though they were impaired, he was in a room with several of the strongest shinobi in the village and Kagami slapped his hand away without even looking. "What's on your mind that has you running out of the room, kiddo?"

"Do you have a copy of 'The History of the Shinobi Nations' I can borrow for a few minutes? Preferably not the civilian version."

"Sure, but you have  _The Professor_  sitting not three feet in front of you, why not ask him? We're all dying for a piece of your mind. That came out wrong. We all want to hear what has your knickers in a twist. Still wrong. We all want to know what you're thinking, yeah, that sounds right."

"Yeah, but he's biased, do you have the book or not?"

"Kid, every self-respecting ninja has at least two copies of that thing." Kagami pointed at an inconspicuous shelf in the corner of the room. "Top shelf, left side. You need someone to get it down for you, shorty?"

"Nah, I'm good."

I jumped up and attached a hand to the ceiling then stuck my feet to the ceiling and walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out the book then flipped to land in a crouch.

"Bring it over here, kid, we're all dying from curiosity."

I barely kept an amused smile off my face and obliged while pulling a pencil and booklet I painstakingly bound for my own convenience out of my pocket. The first half of the booklet was covered with a menagerie of notes and odd sketches of people to avoid even if they weren't in the Bingo Book. The notes were all written in English, making the entire booklet impossible to decipher. Before I could open it, Kagami snatched it out of my hand.

"I've been wanting to get a closer look at this for almost a year!"

"Give it back!" I protested.

"This isn't any code I've seen," Kagami commented, trying to decipher the script. I had to hold back a laugh when I saw him holding it upside-down and backwards.

"So? Give it back! It's mine!"

"Alright." He closed it and held it out to me. Before I could snatch it back, he tossed it to Yasu. The girl giggled and tossed it to Jiraiya.

"Real mature." I rolled my eyes as the booklet went around the table and each person tried to decipher it without luck. While I was distracted, Kagami snatched the textbook out of my hand. "Is it Torment Kichiro Day or something?" I demanded.

The booklet landed beside the Hokage's hand and the room waited with bated breath as he opened it. I took the opportunity the snatch the textbook back from Kagami and marched up to the Hokage and held out my hand expectantly. Almost right away, the Hokage figured out the way my notes were supposed to be read, even though his eyes skimmed it from right to left. Yeah, he wouldn't be able to decipher it like that, not that I expected him to be successful. He would have to be able to understand a different alphabet as well as an entirely different language, which was incredibly unlikely, if not impossible.

"I'm not sure I could figure this one out," the Hokage said, returning the booklet.

I smirked. "No, you can't."

"Do you have a name for it?"

I shrugged. "English."

The group rolled the foreign word around in their heads as I sat down and opened the history book, refocusing on my original task: figuring out just how deeply nepotism and cronyism ran in this world.

It didn't take long for the conversation to turn away from my eccentricities, but I noticed the Hokage, Kagami, and Sakumo watching me out of the corners of their eyes.

I methodically flipped through the textbook, counting and noting down important points.

"Your conclusion?" The Hokage took a knee beside me as I finished up. Startled, I threw my elbow back at his gut, enhanced with chakra. He caught my arm easily. Because he needed a slap upside the head, I followed through with a punch to the face. He caught it and raised an eyebrow at me. The seal on my forehead started to burn and I pulled away, rubbing it, while he shook out his hands. "Tsunade! I thought you said you never taught anyone your chakra punch!"

"I didn't!" She answered from across the room where she was bickering with her teammates.

"She didn't," Sakumo said. "He hit me with one of those punches within five minutes of meeting me, he never even laid eyes on Tsunade-hime."

"Impressive," the Hokage laid a grandfatherly hand on my shoulder. "So, what's all this secrecy about your notes and thoughts about?"

I scowled and stuffed the booklet in my pocket. Before I had a chance to answer, Fugaku marched up in front of me. "Fight me," he demanded.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You're not as good as everyone seems to think."

"I don't want to fight."

"Come on, kid, where's your pride? You can't let a challenge like that go!" Kagami said and put an arm around Fugaku's shoulders. The teenager shrugged him off. "Besides, the clan scions challenge each other all the time!"

"I'm not a scion," I snapped back and stood up to put the textbook away.

"Close enough, little cousin," Tsunade shoved my gear into my chest while taking the book away. "I want to see how you stack up against the Uchiha Golden Boy."

"I don't—"

"Fight! Fight!" Yasu chanted excitedly.

"Come on, kid, don't disappoint the lady!" Kagami insisted.

"Yeah, um, I don't bow to the whims of every bloodthirsty child I meet, thank you very much." I shoved my gear back at Tsunade. "I've already fought twice today—"

"That was hours ago, and it was a fight and a heated conversation."

I was already being hustled out to the backyard, my protests ignored.

"Alright, anything below B-rank is fine, obviously, no killing." Kagami led us out. It was dark and the moon provided barely enough light for me to see by, though that would change if Fugaku started launching fireballs at me.

Sakumo pulled me aside. "Fugaku-kun has a bit of an ego, so please actually put some effort into this."

**_You will not shame yourself and me in a pathetic match like this._ **

_Shut up._

**_He has the Sharingan._ **

_I know._

**_It's not strong enough to control me._ **

_I know._

**_Beat that brat to a pulp._ **

_You're far too invested in this._

I made sure to fumble as I attached my pouch of senbon to my leg. Fugaku snorted and activated his Sharingan. I shrugged on my bloodstained Chuunin vest and fumbled the zipper. Just because I could, I drew on a small amount of the Kyuubi's chakra to help me sense so I didn't have to rely entirely on my eyes, which could be easily blinded. It would also help me fight off Genjutsu.

Fugaku swallowed as he felt the Kyuubi's chakra appear.

I didn't know very many water jutsu if need be, but I knew enough. Fugaku was a Chuunin like me, so I wasn't particularly worried about being outmatched.

He started with a Genjutsu, which I ruined before he could complete. I launched a handful of senbon at him. He just rolled his eyes and knocked them away with several shuriken.

"You're going to have to do better than that."

"Make me."

Fugaku busted out the Ninjutsu and I spent the next part of the fight dodging various fireballs and spikes of earth. Thankfully, Fugaku's repertoire was limited by his age. In less than a minute, the barrage faded. I landed, my hair slightly singed from a close shave. During the onslaught, I attached several senbon and a kunai to each foot to throw if I got the chance. It was one of my favorite tricks; no one ever thought to watch for projectiles from the feet, simply because feet had no opposable thumbs, which was easily remedied by chakra.

I dug my toes into the ground, preparing for his Taijutsu onslaught. He charged. I had wondered where Sakumo had learned the Uchiha Taijutsu style to teach me, but with Kagami as his sensei, it made more sense. Fugaku's attacks were easy to counter, but the strength behind them forced me to use chakra when I couldn't dodge.

"Hold still, you little brat!" Fugaku snarled as I managed to dodge his sudden change in style.

"Um, I like my face how it is, so you have to promise not to mess it up!"

"What does that—" Fugaku recoiled as I switched my style. Until then, I had left my feet planted and defended with my arms. I switched to one of the styles Sakumo had focused the most on, which had me flying through the air and attacking with every part of my body, starting with a sweep to the legs.

I was at a significant disadvantage in size, but with chakra, I could match strength without much problem. In speed, he was slightly faster, but I was smaller and had better control over my body, so his Sharingan didn't give him enough of an advantage.

Fugaku swore as my second stick, from his perspective, appeared out of nowhere, unable to be dodged. He couldn't counter what his eyes couldn't see. While he struggled to avoid the stick, he looked away just long enough for me to launch a senbon from the bottom of each of my feet. One lodged itself in the carpals of his dominant hand and the other missed. I kicked the successful senbon for good measure and he screamed in pain. When I kicked the senbon, he managed a solid kick to my ribs followed by a punch to my solar plexus. We both broke apart.

Most pain, I could numb and continue to function while the Kyuubi healed me. The problem with getting punched in the solar plexus was that it wasn't pain, per say, but when hit with a shinobi-strength punch, my entire body temporarily shut down.

I managed remained standing, hoping the pain from the senbon would occupy Fugaku long enough for me to recover enough to move. I could heal the damage to my organs while fighting.

I glanced at the adults. Tsunade looked worried, rightly so, she was probably the only one who fully understood the damage I just took. She took a step forward to stop the match, but I shook my head sharply and forced myself to stand straight, my hand over my stomach, healing. The rest of the adults were splitting their attention between a conversation and watching the match from the porch. Yasu sat on the steps, fascinated.

It was my turn to bring out Ninjutsu, but without hand seals. Fugaku pulled out the senbon and turned to glare at me, holding his hand. He wouldn't be able to use hand seals and I doubted he knew seal-less jutsu like I relied on. Seal-less jutsu took a long time to learn so most shinobi tended to forgo the speed boost in exchange for learning a larger number of jutsu.

Fugaku ran forward and I blasted him back with a battering ram of wind. I couldn't quite move yet, so Fugaku came at me from my right side. A much deadlier blade of wind forced him to leap out of the way and land on his injured hand with an angry shout of pain. He tried to attack me from behind, but I closed my eyes and blasted him with a jet of water that expelled more chakra than I intended. He continued to run around me, but by that point, I could move freely. He jumped towards me and my hands hit the ground at the same time at his feet. The ground sucked him into the earth up to his waist, a modification of the headhunter jutsu. I leapt over his readjusted strike and grabbed his wrist in the process and twisted his arm behind him until the blade of his kunai touched the base of his skull, just like Kakashi did to Naruto during the bell test.

The small audience went silent.

"I yield," Fugaku growled.

I released him and lifted him out of the ground, then kicked his ankle petulantly.

"What was that for?" He demanded, hopping backwards on one foot.

"That hurt, and it's going to take me forever to heal, you bastard! It was a  _spar_! You're supposed to pull your punches!"

He stuck his injured hand in my face. "I didn't see you holding anything back!"

I reached down with my free hand and pulled a senbon and a kunai from where they were attached to the bottom of my feet. "I would have destroyed the carpals in your hand via kunai instead if messing with your pain receptors via a puny senbon."

"Where the hell did that senbon come from anyways?"

"The store."

Kagami stepped between us with a light before Fugaku could retaliate for my smart-ass comment. "Good fight. Kichiro, are you determined to rack up the blood pressure of everyone assembled?"

"Yes," I grunted and fell to one knee.

"Fine, just so we're clear. Let's get you both to Tsunade."

"I can fix myself," I retorted.

"I'm fine," Fugaku snapped, glaring at me.

"Idiot, you won't ever be able to use your hand without pain again if you don't have a medic look at it sometime in the near future and I'm otherwise occupied." That was a blatant lie, his hand would only ache for a few days whether he received treatment or not.

Fugaku snorted.

I ignored him.

"Kichiro-kun, if you can, please stop using the Kyuubi's chakra, the change in your appearance is quite disconcerting." Kagami said once Fugaku walked away.

Kagami drew a katana so I could see my reflection. I frowned, studying the small transformations. I hadn't been able to get a good look at them before. It was much more controlled than I ever remembered Naruto's early transformations being, but then again, I had the Kyuubi's cooperation. I was barely channeling any of the Kyuubi's chakra, just enough to augment my senses and help with the healing process, but it made my eyes resemble a fox's, even in the way they reflected the light, and sharpened my teeth. My nails were sharper, sturdier, and curved, like a fox's. I was reasonably sure I could fix the severe bruising of my organs without the Kyuubi's help so I slowly released the chakra and watched my eyes fade back to their normal green.

"Thank you," Kagami let out a relieved sigh. I looked up at him and noticed his Sharingan fade.

"Why does everyone think I'm about to lose control? I've already told you the Kyuubi agreed to work with me."

**_They fear my name, as they should._ **

"Yes, but the Kyuubi isn't known for its benevolence."

"Yeah, well Kushina isn't known for her patience, but she can still sit down and study when it suits her purposes."

"Fair, but do you trust her leave her birthday present on the table and untampered with for a week?"

I grumbled an unintelligible response. Without warning, Kagami lifted me into his arms and carried me into the house. After a minute, he propped me against one of the walls with a blanket over me. Once settled, I closed my eyes to concentrate on the healing.

Healing myself was tedious and considering the adults had their party in full swing, I decided it wasn't worth moving. If I had pegged Kagami right, I would probably wake up to a prank, but I didn't care.

(-_-)

When I did wake up, it was nearly morning and someone had put a pillow under my head. The house was quiet, which felt strange. A few feet away, Jiraiya had fallen asleep on a futon and Tsunade was collapsed beside him. In an adjacent room, low voices were conversing. I took off my vest, disgusted by the smell of blood.

Silently, I stood up and crept towards the voices. When I reached the door, I paused, listening. Without a break in the conversation, the door opened. I flinched out of the way as the sudden light blinded me.

The Hokage motioned me inside.

"So, what do you think?" Kagami asked me.

"About what?"

"This." He pointed at the table where papers were piled with one on top at which he was pointing. It was one of mine.

"It's my seal."

"Yes, but do you think it can seal the Hachibi?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it would barely seal a single tail's worth of the Kyuubi's chakra."

"What?" Kagami squawked. "How much chakra are we talking about here?"

"How am I supposed to quantify chakra?"

"Good point. In comparison to the average shinobi, how much chakra are we talking about?"

**_It would take approximately sixteen individuals, probably more, with the chakra capacity of the Uchiha in front of you to equal the amount of chakra the Hachibi possesses._ **

"The Kyuubi says it would take about sixteen times the amount of chakra you have to rival the Hachibi."

"Are you sure you can trust that?"

"Go ask the Raikage to confirm it, he's fought the Hachibi, right?"

Kagami swore and punched the table.

"The Shiki Fūjin would seal it up without a problem."

"I can count on my fingers the number of people capable of using that seal and the village can't afford to lose any of them," the Hokage rebuked. "You said you were capable of sealing the Hachibi. Of the seals in your notes, this one was the most likely to succeed. If not this seal, then which one?"

" _Seal two-zero-seven_."

"Yeah, what does that mean?"

My organization system was in English, so I wasn't surprised they had no idea what I was taking about.

"It's a numbering system," the Hokage concluded.

I scowled. "Yes. What you're looking at there is a modification of the seal Tsunade uses to store chakra in her forehead. It wouldn't be able to hold the Ichibi."

"Where's the one you're talking about?"

I shuffled the papers until I found the proper seal. The organization was certainly not how I left it, but it didn't take me long to find. "This one." I slapped it down on top.

The Hokage leaned over it, studying the seal. I noticed Sakumo sitting on the kitchen counter a few feet away. His knowledge of seals was extremely limited; thus, he didn't participate much in the discussion.

"What do you think?" Kagami asked the Hokage. Apparently, he didn't read seals very well either. For that matter, I was extremely slow at reading and writing seals as well, but I could probably read all but the most complex of seals. Kushina read seals better than she read kanji. Minato read kanji better than both of us, though my comprehension was much better than either of theirs on both counts.

The Hokage pointed at a section of the seal which used one of the secret Uzumaki aspects of sealing. I leaned over it, trying to remember what I intended with that particular section of the matrix.

**_Very clever, little rat._ **

_Would you stop calling me a rat, please?_

**_When you stop looking like hairless vermin._ **

_You need lessons in politeness._ "It's just a stability factor," I concluded, ignoring the Kyuubi's mocking. "The dead space in that section of the seal as well as the dead space in several other sections made the seal unbalanced and if I tried to apply it, it would have unraveled, which would have been bad, obviously."

"You shouldn't have this 'dead space' in seals."

I shrugged. "It works."

"It's dangerous."

"Actually, if you're prone to overloading seals, it makes it safer."

"How did you learn sealing so quickly? It took me nearly a decade to get to the point where I could make my own seals."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't splitting my attention between a hundred projects, it was just this and medic training. Kushina taught me after I managed to memorize the first dozen or so base matrices."

"Even the Uzumaki take more than two years to learn sealing at this level. According to Kushina, it took her nearly four years to get to this point."

I spoke three languages and was literate in two, plus I could read music, albeit slowly. Picking up what equated to a fourth language wasn't difficult. I just shrugged in answer. "I like puzzles. Creating seals is like making my own puzzles, making my own story. It's interesting. It took me a couple hundred tries to reach that point there, but I figured it out in the end. Why does any of this matter?"

"You failed to put an understanding of Fūinjutsu in your personnel file."

"It took me nearly a year of specified study to make that seal, I wouldn't call that an understanding of anything. Stop looking at me like that."

"You're still willing to seal the Hachibi with this?"

"No, but I don't have a choice. The Kyuubi made sealing the Hachibi one of the conditions for continued cooperation."

"You said one of your goals was freeing the Bijū."

I rolled my eyes. "That's going to be quite the process, of which the Kyuubi is mostly going to be in charge, and until everyone can agree to play nicely, they're going to stay in time-out. Unless you want me to head to all the villages and start releasing Bijū. Then I wholeheartedly agree and lets just go smash the other villages with their own supposed weapons, when do I leave?"

"We are sticking with the original plan to bring Kumo to heel and give a warning to the other nations. As soon as we stick the agreement on the Raikage, I want you to update your file. You would never have gone to the front lines if I knew both you and your sister were budding Fūinjutsu prodigies."

"Might as well lump Minato into that category as well."

"At least he was honest about his abilities. You still haven't told anyone who you learned from or from what books you're learning from."

"No, I haven't. I don't intend to. You can't make me. End of story." I was a frustrating little bastard and I liked it.

"I never thought I'd say this, but you could learn a thing or two from him about stubbornness, Hiruzen." Kagami chuckled.

"That's enough."

"Someone's getting touchy, fine."

I rolled my eyes and turned to leave, uninterested.

"Where are you going?" The Hokage grabbed a fistful of the back of my shirt.

"To go see what I can do for Minato and Kushina."

"Tsunade has already seen to them and they're being kept sedated until we can figure out how to help them mentally when they wake up."

"I can—"

"You have a responsibility to this village first."

"They're—"

"They can wait. If need be, I will order you to comply."

I felt anger rising in my chest, cutting off my voice. I jerked myself free. "Then give the damn order, don't  _threaten_  it."

I continued walking away. I wasn't sure if the Hokage was bluffing or not, but I was going to call him on it anyways and let him fight with his own morality. I opened the door.

"Uzumaki Kichiro, I order you to remain with me until you have fulfilled your immediate obligation to this village by assisting in facilitating the peace negotiations with Kumogakure."

The order settled on my shoulders with the weight of a block of concrete. For a long minute, I seriously considered trying defy the order. I compromised by turning around and grabbing the seal then leaving anyways. They'd figure out where I was going soon enough.


	17. Chapter 17

I waited outside the Hokage tower for about five minutes, glaring at the ground. When the Hokage strode up, he grabbed my arm and hauled me into the building.

"Basement," he snapped. "Twenty minutes."

Without another word, he left me in front of a restroom and shoved a bundle of clean clothing into my arms.

I got the hint and cleaned myself up, mostly by scrubbing away the blood crusted under my fingernails and washing my face and rinsing my hair. After a second of contemplation, I sealed my dirty clothes into a scrap of paper I found in my pocket. The trek down to where the Kyuubi was sealed inside of me didn't seem nearly as long as it did the first time. My ears popped four times on the way down.

The Hokage waited for me at the bottom of the steps, smoking his pipe.

"Do not speak unless spoken too," he murmured, then led the way forward. I sulked after him.

One of the ANBU opened the door for us. I hesitated for the briefest of seconds, the ANBU's mask was blank except for the village symbol plastered across it. After a moment of concentration, I recognized Kagami's chakra signature. He winked at me.  _Good luck,_  he signed. I managed to pass the recognition off as an acknowledgement and entered the room. It didn't seem as big as I remembered it. The seals on the walls of the room glowed, clearly active.

Once he determined exactly who was visiting, the Raikage stood up laboriously, with no visible restraints. His head was held high and his gaze full of challenge. The door closed behind us. I leaned against the wall beside it while the Hokage strolled forward, still pulling on his pipe, to stand a few feet in front of the Raikage, who was more than a foot taller and twice as broad.

"A," the Hokage greeted amicably.

"Sarutobi," the Raikage responded cautiously.

"It's been a long time."

"Not long enough. Release my men."

"That depends on the agreement we reach."

"You have me. Release them."

"You really do care about nothing but your men, here I thought it was an exaggeration."

"Don't toy with me, you coward."

"Your men are as well as can be expected. Our methods of extracting information are not so crude that you need worry about them returning permanently injured."

"Kumo had  _nothing_  to do with the torture of those two Genin. I'd gladly slaughter your village's future but I would never pointlessly torture them!"

The Hokage held up a placating hand. "I am perfectly aware."

"What do you want?"

A thin scroll appeared in the Hokage's hand. "Not much."

The Raikage took it and slowly unrolled it. "The Nibi and its Jinchuuriki, all Kumo resources directed against Kiri, and a non-aggression pact in exchange for the secure sealing of the Hachibi."

"And the safe return of all prisoners on both sides." The Hokage smirked.

"I won't fight your battles for you."

"You don't have a choice."

"I won't give up one of my people and a future shinobi to you, nor will I hand over the Nibi.

"Again, you have no choice."

The Raikage glared. "Then you can keep me here and let me rot. I will not hand over—"

The Hokage raised a hand. The door beside me opened and Kagami, still dressed as the ANBU, shuffled in a Kumo prisoner. I kept my face carefully neutral.

The Raikage lunged forward but a barrier stopped him dead in less than a step.

"Your men mean absolutely nothing to me. They are currently enemies who deserve no mercy. I don't believe you can watch your men tortured to death in front of you."

Kagami slowly took off his mask. "Nice to see you again, Raikage-sama. Our last meeting didn't end on the best of terms and I apologize for not breaking under your torture or having the decency to die when ordered. No hard feelings?"

"Bastard," the Raikage snarled and my curiosity made me stand a bit straighter. "You Konoha nin are harder to kill than cockroaches."

The Hokage chuckled. "I'll let you think my offer over with your head Jōnin."

Kagami crouched and placed a seal at the Kumo Jōnin's feet and backed away, leaving the man's hands tied.

"Uzumaki-kun will remain here. He is capable of answering any questions you may have pertaining to the Bijū. These are the best terms you will be offered."

"He's nothing more than a child playing dress-up!"

"I wasn't aware you were a guest here!" Kagami responded sarcastically. The Raikage punched the barrier in a burst of anger. The Hokage and Kagami left, leaving me leaning against the wall.

"Don't even consider it," the Jōnin growled.

"He's not bluffing."

"We swore—"

"My decision's final."

"The council—"

"I'll deal with the council."

"You'll—"

"Enough. Uzumaki, how does Konoha propose to seal the Hachibi?"

"I will accompany you to a specified site and choose from a list of candidates in which to seal the Hachibi, perform the sealing, and return with the Nibi."

"How do we know you'll keep your word?"

"I don't have a choice." I lifted my forehead protector so he could see the seal. "It's called the Shitagau. I am incapable of disobeying a direct order from the Hokage. If you hear the order, you know it will be obeyed."

"When will the sealing occur?"

"Whenever the Hokage releases me from the village."

"What seal will be used?"

"One of my own."

"You're a kid."

I scowled. "Welcome to Konoha where only yours truly gives a damn about age. Besides, its wartime, our normal rules about age have been all but thrown out the window. Do you have any more questions or can I go? I have better things to do."

"Tell Sarutobi I agree to his demands."

"Is that all?"

"I would appreciate something to eat."

I nodded and left.

(-_-)

After delivering the message to the Hokage in the form of a note passed through one of the shinobi entering the building to report directly to the Hokage, I went to the hospital. Since I was in uniform, as a medic I had free range in the building. It took me two minutes to locate Minato in the pediatric ward, and another thirty seconds to find Kushina in the shinobi recovery ward.

It took me the rest of the day to reach them. Something bad happened and the shinobi section was overflowing with new arrivals. After helping with three emergency surgeries, I found myself unable to walk past the injured. I probably skewed the system slightly, overworked doctors appearing, only to find their patients had already been patched up and were waiting to be discharged. It was a harmless and somewhat productive prank I enjoyed playing, especially since the civilian doctors hadn't caught me yet and none of the medics had squealed.

There was one doctor who hated paperwork more than anything. On my days off when I couldn't find anything better to do, I would commission the help of the career Genin receptionist (they were actually one of the hospital's only visible guards) and target that particular doctor by healing all of her patients before she could get to them and making her do nothing but discharge patients and paperwork for most of the day. The ensuing shouting and cursing at thin air was hilarious.

When I finally made it to Kushina, she was just waking up. One of the nurses had propped her up with pillows. She just stared listlessly at the small hospital meal in front of her.

"Kushina?" I asked cautiously as I sat down on the bed beside her.

She didn't respond, but her hand went to her abdomen where I stabbed her to get to the kunoichi holding her hostage.

"Kushina-chan?" I tried again, taking her hand in mine.

"Minato's dead, isn't he?"

"No!" I exclaimed. "He's going to be fine!"

"Then why'd they take him?" She wailed. Her head fell into her hands and she started sobbing. "He was right beside me, I promised I wouldn't let go, and then he was gone!"

I quickly put my arms around her. "He's fine, Kushina-chan. I know exactly where he is, okay?" I ran my fingers through her hair, a motion that always seemed to calm her down when she was upset.

Suddenly, she shrieked and jerked away from me. The attending nurses came running and one pulled me away while two of them held her down. This only seemed to set her off more than anything and the tray flew off the bed.

Escaping the grip of a nurse experienced with restraining shinobi was a bit harder than I expected, especially while shouting for them to let her go before someone got hurt. I had to resort to a Jōnin-level maneuver I saw Sakumo perform when he found himself in a tight spot on the Iwa border. He would probably beat me senseless if he knew I attempted it, but I only cared about getting Kushina to snap out of whatever flashback she was trapped in.

When I landed on the foot of the bed and brandished my sticks, the nurses quickly jerked out of the way. As soon as they released her, she stopped screaming and scrambled backwards staring straight ahead, her eyes flashing to every movement, but not quite seeing anything.

" _Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember, and a song someone sings, once upon a December_ ," I found myself singing softly. It was in English, the first thing that came into my head. One of my army buddies had a kid with some kind of disorder that had the poor child curled in a corner whenever certain stimulus appeared. Either he or his wife would always crouch beside the girl and sing the song to calm her down. " _Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm_."

Kushina stilled. I moved slowly as I sat down and crossed my legs.

" _Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory_."

Her eyes finally focused on me.

" _Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory_." I couldn't remember any of the rest, so I just repeated the song from beginning. " _Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember—_ "

Kushina lunged forward and I resisted the urge to flinch out of the way as she wrapped her arms around my neck and curled against my chest, seeming much smaller than she actually was.

"— _And a song someone sings, once upon a December. Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory_."

Gingerly, I wrapped my arms around her and held as still as I possibly could.

" _Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory_."

"Nii-san, I still see them—" her breath caught and after a moment she was sobbing into my neck. "They're dead, but they're still there!"

"I know."

"Please make then go away, Nii-san!"

My arms tightened around her, but I knew better than to make a promise I could never keep without turning her life into a lonely hell. "I love you, Kushina-chan. You can always tell me anything."

"I don't want to hurt you too!"

"Kushina, there's nothing you can say or do that could hurt me, okay? I'm your big brother and the only thing that hurts me is when you get hurt."

"I want this war to be over! I don't want to be scared anymore! Where's Minato? Is he okay?"

"He's sleeping," Jiraiya's voice answered as I opened my mouth. "There were complications with the treatment, so he needs to be actively supervised as a precaution. He'll be perfectly fine in time."

"I want to see for myself."

Jiraiya stepped into our line of sight and looked at me for an answer. I held up a hand so Kushina could see it glowing with medical ninjutsu. She nodded her permission and I laid a hand gently on her forehead. Physically, she was fine, if a little battered and sore, but she was obviously kept in the hospital for waking up panicking, most likely more than once. The hospital knew better than to release ninja, even Genin, to the streets, especially Genin without ninja guardians. They had done their best to keep her unconscious simply because the hospital didn't have the manpower to help her and she wasn't important enough in the war effort to reassign someone. If Ise and Fusō were already working in the hospital, they wouldn't be allowed in the shinobi section without direct supervision, not with open chakra networks.

"I'll take you," I finally decided.

Kushina didn't move. "Nii-san? Can you carry me? I don't want to see  _them_  on the way there."

"Sure." I pulled the top blanket off the bed and wrapped it tightly around her from her shoulders to her knees, the hospital gown was a little breezy, even though she wore a pair of shorts beneath it. I sat her on the edge of the bed to scribble a note on her file to keep her off-duty indefinitely.

"Nii-san?" She asked as I initialed the order, hugging the blanket tightly around herself.

"What is it?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Okay, there's one just down the hall." I picked her up and she tucked her face into my neck. To a normal kid my age, she would have been quite heavy, considering she weighed nearly as much as me, but as a shinobi, I could carry Jiraiya with no problem beyond the awkwardness. I stopped in front of the bathroom door and Kushina hesitated before taking her own weight. She stared at the door like it was a haunted closet. I opened it and showed her there was no one inside. "I'll stand right here and make sure no one comes in."

She nodded.

Two minutes later, the door behind me opened and Kushina leapt onto my back. I staggered forward and nearly crashed into the opposite wall at the unexpected force. Patting her knee reassuringly, I continued to the pediatric ward. Since I was a kid, most people assumed I would be the best with kids, which was a flawed assumption, but I learned to turn treatment into a game anyways. Because of my age, everyone seemed to know me by name.

"Chiro-sensei!" Several kids greeted from the dining room.

I smiled and waved, but didn't stop to chat. Kushina's arms tightened around my neck as if someone was about to pull her away. I slipped one hand into hers and stopped at the end of the hall to scan the room assignments. Minato might have been in pediatric care, but he was still a ninja and they tended to separate the Genin from the other children for safety reasons.

To my surprise, Minato had been placed in a room with three very familiar names: Inoichi, Shikaku, and Chōza.

"You alright, Kushina?" I asked cautiously as I set her on her feet, my hand on the doorknob.

She nodded cautiously and locked her grip around my arm.

I knocked twice on the door and received quiet permission to enter. Of the four boys in the room, only two were truly conscious, and only one mostly mobile. A very thin Chōza sat in a chair beside Inoichi, awkwardly playing a card game with one hand. The other arm was immobilized against his bare chest.

"Kichiro-san," Inoichi greeted as I entered first. The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted it and groaned, holding his side, his cards spilling.

"Let me guess, someone decided your ribs weren't functioning properly while solid and pulverized them in a misguided attempt to rectify to problem."

Inoichi and Chōza laughed, but Inoichi quickly stopped, moaning in pain.

"Sorry, I guess I'm not supposed to make you laugh." I pulled Kushina in behind me.

Both boys' eyes widened in horror when they caught sight of Kushina clinging to me. I subtly shook my head, telling them not to comment. As far as I knew, neither had much contact with her, but they were only a year older than me and had spent a year in the Academy with Kushina, even if they weren't in her class. From the confiscated materials in the corner of the room, all three were already Chuunin and had seen the front lines. Their next words confirmed that.

"The rumors are true," Chōza murmured. "You really are the famous Spirit, or infamous depending on your point of view. Can you really work miracles? I think Inoichi could use one. Shikaku as well."

"No, not miracles," I answered, guiding Kushina over to sit in the chair beside Minato's bed.

Jiraiya wandered over to distract them and I lowered my voice so only Kushina could hear.

"See?" I said softly, guiding her hands into Minato's. "He'll be just fine, okay?"

She pulled the blanket away from his chest to reveal where the civilian doctors had been forced to open up the boy's chest to repair the bone and cartilage pulverized by the kunai. I had only stopped the bleeding and repaired the bare minimum. Bone took ages to heal and used more chakra than I had been willing to risk on someone who wouldn't have been able to fight. He would have an impressive scar to show for it and would be laid up for the next few months. I wasn't going to lift a finger to change that. If he was down, it would keep Kushina off-duty alongside him, though the fact I was sure Genin were guarding the hospital instead of the invisible Chuunin generally on duty, I figured she'd be incorporated into that group as soon as she was cleared, which was unlikely if her hollow gaze was anything to go by.

Considering that fact my file somehow had me flagged as a serious flight risk and I was technically on suicide watch (which I had no idea how that happened, I wasn't the slightest bit suicidal), they wouldn't let her near any sharp or pointy objects for quite some time, just to be extra-safe. Yes, I had mostly-inadvertently benched Minato and Kushina. I didn't regret it. The two of them were little more than children and had been dragged far out of their depth simply by who their team leader happened to be, then found themselves stuck on the ocean floor when I made a name for myself. Most everything now flew over their heads and it was only a matter of time before they drowned.

I made a mental note to flag Sakumo as a suicide risk if his wife died or he failed a mission.

"I need to get stronger, Nii-san."

I sat down in the chair beside her and cautiously put an arm around her shoulders. "You're already strong, Kushina-chan, much stronger than anyone else I know." I placed one hand over her heart. "You're strong where it matters."

My words didn't have the effect I wanted. She burst into tears. "But I'm not, Nii-san! W-when they caught me  _that_  time, I wanted to d-die, it hurt so much! I-I knew how much it would hurt you and Minato, but I-I didn't c-care." I glanced at Jiraiya. He was watching us carefully out of the corner of his eye.

I suddenly felt extremely thankful for the years I spent as a CNO while she cried onto my shoulder.

"I saw those kunai first, I should have taken them, not Minato, he wasn't hurt, he could have fought—I'm not strong, Nii-san."

I sighed. "Kushina-chan, you're not weak. When you were captured, your response was perfectly normal."

She only started to cry harder. "Minato nearly died. I was still awake when we got to the hospital and they were shouting all sorts of stuff and it sounded really bad—"

"He's going to be fine, Kushina."

"Stop it!" She sobbed, clinging to my vest. "If it wasn't for me, Minato would never have been connected to you, he wouldn't have been caught if he hadn't tried to protect me and I hadn't yelled threats at them. If I had done  _something_  he wouldn't be just lying there!"

"Hey," I shifted so I could look directly at her. She remained clinging to me, her face hidden in my shoulder. "Hey, look at me." She shook her head. "Kushina, look at me," I ordered.

Sniffling, she pulled away but didn't look up.

"Look at me," I said firmly. Finally, she looked up, even if she couldn't lift her eyes above my collar. I figured it was the best I was going to get. "Kushina,  _you are not responsible_. It isn't you. It just means you're sick, okay? You're just sick and you're going to get better, okay?"

She burst into tears and hid her face back in my shoulder. I wasn't sure if I helped or just made everything worse. "I-it h-h-hurts," she hiccupped.

"I know, Kushina-chan, I know." At a loss, I just put my arms around her and let her cry.

When Inoichi passed out during Jiraiya and Chōza's conversation, the two left politely, even though I could still hear them in the hallway. Eventually, Kushina cried herself to sleep while I hummed half-forgotten tunes.

At some point, I nodded off, only to wake when Jiraiya returned.

He took the chair from beside Inoichi's bed and sat down on Minato's other side, pulling out an empty notebook and a pencil.

"Did Chōza-san go to the dining room?" I asked.

"Discharged to his mother, who just returned from a mission." A long silence ensued, woven with Jiraiya's constant fidgeting.

"You don't have to stay," I told him when the rustling began to annoy me.

"Yes, I do," he answered quietly. "I failed them and I can't let them suffer the consequences alone."

"You're not responsible either."

"No, but I still have a responsibility to them."

"And if you're needed on the front lines again?"

"Then I'll make sure they'll be fine without me."

I laid my head on Kushina's.

"I managed to get my hands on Sensei's copy of your file, the comprehensive one."

I didn't particularly care, so I didn't answer.

"I'm curious as to why you make a habit of insulting the leadership of this village."

It wasn't a question, so I didn't even bother reacting.

"Not very talkative are you?"

"If you want information from or about me, just ask."

"Very well. Tell me when I'm wrong. Uzumaki Kichiro, nine years old, Chuunin." Technically, I was mentally twenty-nine, but I suppose he was still correct. "You spent the first seven years of your life in Uzushiogakure." Technically, it was Maryland, a few miles outside of D.C., but he was taking about Kichiro, so it was still legit. "You were forced to flee the village with seven other children a little more than a month after your birthday."

"Eight. There were eight other kids."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow but otherwise ignored my comment. "Shortly after you were settled in the village as a refugee, you were placed in the Academy to become a shinobi for Konoha. While you showed the intelligence and physical capacity for a ninja career in the pre-academy questionnaire, you displayed exceptional maturity and hinted at an unnaturally well-developed sense of morality that objected to participating in the profession." Well, now I knew the purpose of all those questions before I joined the other students. "As such, Hatake Sakumo was tasked with covertly discerning the extent of your moral code and whether it could be broken to create a shinobi." Well, I played right into Sakumo's hands. "You were offered an apprenticeship and utilized the liberties it gave you to attempt to become the first male medic-nin in village history."

"Seriously? No other guy ever tried to be a medic?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "A handful have tried from an intellectual standpoint, but none succeeded."

"I thought everyone was more hung up on the age than the gender."

"Kid, you're a genius, even though you reject the title." I'm an adult being judged by standards set to children. "Not even my genius teammate picked up a subject as fast as you mastered iryo-ninjutsu."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not sure about your last two statements, but go on, my history from another's point of view is more interesting than I thought."

"Supposedly, while you were training to become a medic, time you were supposedly studying Academy materials were spent learning Fūinjutsu, under the assumption you would become the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki in the case of Uzumaki Mito's death." I was a bit more than certain that the Kyuubi would eventually be sealed inside of me than an assumption would connote, but he was still technically correct. "While you were simultaneously learning two subjects that should generally take several years of intensive study, you spent four to five days a week training with Hatake Sakumo as his apprentice, and passing off original seals as gifts from your sister."

Actually, any seals I used in a spar were Kushina's. Any seals she happened to use in a spar in front of adults were mine. Sakumo had rightfully thought Kushina to be a budding Fūinjutsu prodigy and the Chuunin teachers assumed Kushina's seals had come from Sakumo. No one cared enough to look into the issue. I obviously didn't care when someone made an inaccurate assumption.

"During your time as Hatake's student, you excelled in chakra control, balance, strength, agility, flexibility, and intuition, characteristics that would make you a perfect fit for any Taijutsu style, which Hatake capitalized on by teaching you several radically different styles, all of which you picked up with surprising ease." What could I say, physical training was fun when I could ease or even altogether turn off the pain associated with it, though I didn't dare tell anyone that was what I was doing. "Your skills in other areas were puzzling. You showed almost no aptitude for throwing kunai and shuriken." Because I didn't care to stick people with sharp pointy things. "Yet, when introduced to senbon, you excelled."

Because the fact that the chances of senbon accidentally causing a mortal wound, or even a dangerous wound were slim to none. Not even a direct hit to the aorta would cause anything but a little bit of bleeding and the style of senbon I used were too light and thin to go through bone unless I really wanted them too. The worst damage I could do was take out someone's eye or cause a hell of a lot of pain. If I wanted to, I could paralyze someone's vocal chords and with a little bit of luck, I could put someone into a near-death state for an indefinite period of time. Several annoying Academy students had mysteriously lost their voices for a week when I heard them cussing up a storm and picking on a trio of little civilian girls. Sakumo somehow (I didn't want to know the details) wrangled a Genin team into becoming practice dummies shortly after I started sparring with the Academy students. I managed to knock one of them out shortly before noon and they stayed out until the next morning when I declared the experiment to be over and woke them up.

Jiraiya wasn't finished. "Hatake was faced with pressure from the majority of Konoha's leadership to test how well you would do in both Ninjutsu and Genjutsu." That was unexpected. Sakumo hadn't been at all forthcoming about anything he did outside of our occasional meetings and regular training sessions. I had assumed that Sakumo's relationship with the Hokage was a bit distant, but I was obviously wrong. "Even with that pressure and a few threats, Hatake continued to insist on waiting. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that he gave a specific date to begin your training in Ninjutsu, you would have been transferred to a different Jōnin."

I snorted. "That would not have gone over well. It still won't." I probably would have refused to train until Sakumo was reinstated. Then again, I was fairly sure 'issues with authority' had been in my file from the beginning. It was probably changed to 'severe issues with authority' following Kushina's kidnapping, but I was strangely proud of it.

"Does that mean you would be unwilling to work under a different captain?"

I thought for a moment. "Depends on who that captain is."

"Do you have anyone in mind?"

I hummed. "Maybe Tsunade, but I doubt there's room for a puny little Chuunin like me on your team."

"Anyone else?"

"I don't know all that many people right now." I'd know plenty of people in the future, but a vast majority of the main characters hadn't even been born yet. I suppose I did know tons of people from the warfronts, but I only knew them in passing and names were rarely included, unless they were stupidly powerful Jōnin everyone knew anyways.

"What about Katō Dan?"

"Why do you mention him specifically?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "He's one of the primary candidates for the next Hokage." I knew the future Sannin was trying to gauge my reaction, but I didn't give him one. Then again, I should probably reassure everyone that it wasn't authority that I had a problem with, but certain authority figures.

"I met him briefly on the Kumo border. Decent man and likes medics. Guarded me himself while I worked so my team could get some real rest, which probably saved our lives the day we left the base." Honestly, I liked the man. He was more willing than anyone else I'd ever met, in this world, to engage in ethical discussions, and unlike Sakumo, he hardly ever used the traditional village dogma, or even the dogma of the shinobi world in general, to back up his claims. We had a nice debate while I steadily worked through their triage system and almost completely healed all but three of their injured. Even though I probably should have rested, he didn't object when I moved onto the advanced triage patients. He went so far as to sincerely thank me after I managed to save two of the three, right before he knocked me out with a sleeping jutsu that didn't wear off for a good fifteen hours. The next time I saw him, I planned to give him a hard time for it, but I held no hard feelings towards him, which surprised me.

Jiraiya scowled.

"What? You don't like him?"

"I hate the whelp."

"You're an ass. I suppose the only reason you don't like him is because Tsunade gives him the time of day she denies you."

"You are nine. How the hell do you pick up on something like that?"

"He was wearing the Shodai's necklace when I met him, and I happen to be the only medic allied with this village willing to heal your Tsunade-inflicted injuries."

"That's because I'm pretty sure you're the only male in this village who's not the slightest bit scared of her."

I chuckled. "That's because I'm not perverted."

"That'll change, kiddo, trust me."

"No, I don't think it will," I murmured to myself, lost in memory, my eyes closed.


	18. Chapter 18

When I wasn't working, I realized that the hospital was boring.

I had no qualms about abusing my abilities in medical Ninjutsu, and instead of shifting when my arm fell asleep from the weight of Kushina's head, I used a bit to restore circulation and ease the stiffness of remaining in one position for an extended period of time. That quickly turned into a chakra control exercise when I realized how hard it was to alleviate stiffness without movement. Not only did I have to maximize blood flow, but I also had to manipulate lymphatic fluids without turning my body into a giant cramp, which was damn near impossible considering lymph was  _everywhere_  while blood stayed on specific paths. While I practiced, the hospital lights gradually dimmed for the night.

Minato's sedative wore off a few hours after midnight. Sometime before then and after our conversation, Jiraiya had fallen asleep, leaving me in my silent, selfish vigil. I waited until Minato finally opened his eyes in the dim light before sliding out from beneath Kushina. She stirred slightly as I propped her against the back of the chair, but I was glad she was still a heavy sleeper.

"Nii-san?" Minato asked as I leaned over him, sliding my hand into his.

"It's me, Minato-kun, how're you feeling?"

"Throat hurts."

"Do you want me to get some pain medication for you?"

"Conscious?"

"No, you won't stay conscious."

"Ninjutsu?"

"Sorry, kiddo, you're healing the long way this time."

"Kushina?"

"She's right here. She's just fine, I'm fine, everyone's fine."

"Time?"

"Middle of the night. You've been out for a bit more than a day, and a portion of that was spent in surgery."

He relaxed.

"Can you wiggle your fingers and toes for me?" When I saw his toes move under the blanket and his hand squeeze mine, I relaxed as well. "Good job. Are you sure you don't want me to get some anesthetic?"

"No medicine."

"For now." I felt his forehead, which was still feverish. "Think you can eat and drink something?"

"Just water."

"It's both or I put you back under, Minato-kun."

"Chest hurts."

"I'm sure it does. A kunai through the heart will do that to you. Sit tight for a few minutes and I'll be back, don't move or I knock you out and you'll wake up strapped down." I didn't mean the threat, but he probably shouldn't have been awake for another day at least.

I hurried to the small kitchen open during the night and grabbed a small package of the first thing my hand landed on. It was a bit difficult to blindly fish out a spoon and straw as well as fill a glass of water without making a mess or a bunch of noise, but I managed. When I returned, Jiraiya was somehow still asleep, as was Kushina. As gently as I could, I inclined the bed just enough so Minato could eat with some kind of normalcy and not choke on his water.

"Thank you," he murmured as I folded his weakly trembling hands around the glass and guided it to his mouth.

I turned away to straighten Kushina's neck so she wouldn't wake up with a cramp. When I looked back at Minato, he had finished the glass.

"Take it easy, Minato-kun, you haven't had anything in your stomach for a while. I brought you some kind of food. It was dark so I'm not exactly sure if its mashed bananas or applesauce."

Minato made a face.

"I'm pretty sure it's applesauce. The bananas are generally kept on the top shelf." I opened the half-cup container and placed it in Minato's hand and the spoon in the other.

He clumsily took a bite. "Definitely applesauce," he informed me.

"See? I always grab the good stuff."

"The good stuff would have been ramen."

I didn't bother arguing with him, he never had the joys of pizza. My infrequent attempts to make it hadn't been very successful, considering half of the ingredients just didn't seem to exist and I couldn't remember the exact recipe. Word to the wise: garlic and ginger were certainly not the same thing and could not be substituted for each other.

I did make pancakes on a semi-regular basis, but without thick, maple syrup, they never tasted right. At least eggs were a thing.

While Minato ate, I refilled his glass with water. When he finished the small meal and the second glass of water, I left to quickly wash them. When I returned, Jiraiya was finally waking up, albeit slowly. Tipping Minato's chart at an awkward angle to catch enough light to write by, I scribbled down the pertinent information.

"Is there someone else here?" Minato asked when I returned to his side.

"Yes, Jiraiya is on your other side while Inoichi-san and Shikaku-san are both injured and unconscious behind me."

"I can't sense."

"You're barely lucid enough to communicate, take it easy. Your sensing is going to be shot until you're taken off the pain meds."

"I don't want—"

"Trust me, enjoy being a Genin. There is almost no pain control on the lines."

Jiraiya finally sat up and put a hand on Minato's shoulder. The boy flinched away before he recognized his teacher and his face lit up. "Sensei! You're back!"

"Yeah, gaki. How are you feeling?"

"Nii-san just asked me that."

"I was asleep, so I missed it."

While they started to argue, I went to wake up Kushina. I thought she was happy to interact with Minato, but it was difficult to tell while she looked like she was about to burst into tears at any provocation, even though she sat on the bed beside him and fussed over him. I sat in the chair and hovered in a state between sleep and meditation, monitoring the conversation just enough to stop any stressors if need be.

"Kichiro says that all the time," Kushina murmured and I heard her lay down.

"Quiet! He'll hear you!" Minato answered.

Their voices lowered to the point I could barely make out who was speaking, much less what they were saying. I wondered what about me could be so interesting that they would need to be so secretive. It made me slightly paranoid, but I shoved away the feeling and resisted the urge to eavesdrop, eventually landing in my own mindscape, a few inches from the Kyuubi's snout. I swore and jerked backwards.

**Go away.**

"It's my head."

**What do you want?**

"Pizza."

**Bless you.**

"Pizza is food."

**Why are you here?**

"Because I enjoy your company."

**I'm flattered. You got my company, now go away.**

"You need to learn to be polite."

**I have no need to abide by your human customs.**

I rolled my eyes. "Then I'll call you 'Muffin' and you can't get mad at me."

The Kyuubi growled in warning.

"Right, you need to learn to be polite."

**As much as they are unnecessary, I do know the proper conduct of you humans.**

"Really?" I rolled my eyes. "Show me." I bowed. "Hello, my name is Kichiro."

**Nice to meet you, Kichiro-** **_chan_ ** **. My name is Kurama.**

"Nice to meet you, Kurama-sama," I responded by pure reflex, stunned. I never expected him to share his name with me.

**Do not share that name with anyone.**

"Understood."

**There are humans attempting to get your attention. Leave.**

Instead of unceremoniously throwing me out like he did the last time, Kurama let me wake myself up from my meditation.

I came back to my body to find Jiraiya shaking my shoulder.

"You alright, gaki?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, what's wrong?" I asked.

"You weren't paying attention," he deadpanned.

"I was meditating, isn't that the point?"

Jiraiya pointed towards the window where a messenger hawk was perched on the windowsill and his hand was bleeding. I stood up and held out my arm to the bird. I was more than a little disturbed by the hawk's gaze.

It held still while I detached the tightly furled page from its leg. As soon as the message was free, the hawk took off, circled the room, and flew out the window.

Shaking out my arm, I sat back down and opened the black paper, confused. Only Jōnin and team leaders generally received messages via hawk. I was neither of those.

(-_-)

**WARTIME MISSION SUMMONS**

**Rank: S**

Issued to: Uzumaki Kichiro 007309

Reporting time: 10 minutes from reception of orders

Briefing place: Hokage Tower

Type: Infiltration, Village Services, Combat

Teammate(s): Katō Dan, Orochimaru

Please arrive prepared for departure.

Authorized by: Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage

(-_-)

I'd never even seen summons before, much less received an S-ranked one, though Sakumo had taught me how to determine if they were legitimate. I did know one thing: there would be absolutely no way I'd be working with Orochimaru. The paper slipped from my hands and landed between my feet.

"Nii-san?" Kushina asked. A moment later, she stumbled off the bed and fell to her knees beside me, snatching up the page. Before she could look at it, Jiraiya plucked it out of her hand and incinerated it while Kushina leapt up, her protest dying on her lips.

"They're mission summons," he explained. "They should only be seen by the recipient. You have nine minutes to report, Kichiro-kun."

Minato stumbled off the bed and clung tightly to Kushina's arm for support. Thankfully, I was one of the few people in the hospital who regularly used IVs in patients, Minato was stable enough not to be attached to oxygen, and heart monitors didn't exist yet, so he wasn't attached to anything that would cause problems. I stood up and faced them. This world didn't have treatments for PTSD, no one but me could do anything for them. Every second I was gone left them suffering from something they didn't understand. I was completely willing to ignore the orders, to take them and hide if I had to, damn the consequences, but I knew if I did, my absence on the mission I knew was waiting for me would set Kumo up to continue the war or declare war on Konoha in the future, causing far more harm to far more people than just the two  _children_  in front of me. I didn't even have time to tell them  _why_.

When I glanced between them, I could see they knew I had to abandon them, I could see the hurt, pain, and fear in their faces.

" _God help me_ ," I pleaded, but no one else could understand English. I chose my next words to the two of them carefully. "I'm so sorry," my voice begging. "I'm sorry, I don't have any excuse, I don't have any justification, I'm so sorry." My words failed. Slowly and deliberately, I sank to into a traditional seiza and bowed, pressing my forehead against the ground. Kushina started to reach for me, but without her support Minato would have fallen. I completed the bow and stood up. "I-I'll come b-back, I promise."

(-_-)

Before they could recover from their stunned silence, I leapt onto the windowsill and dashed away across the rooftops. I had six minutes left to replace all my mission supplies, excepting my weapons, and make it to the Hokage tower.

"Urgent mission!" I exclaimed as I swung into the first shinobi shop I laid eyes on. It was still too early for the normal pre-mission preparations to begin for the day. I started to rattle off the things I needed. It would have taken ten minutes for a civilian to have gotten the things together, but since the shop owner was a former kunoichi, she managed to haphazardly toss everything in a pack small enough for me to easily fight while carrying in half that time.

"Come back alive, Uzumaki-san," she said while pushing it over the counter. She'd get payment from my account using the village credit system.

"I will," I promised and took off with a minute left to reach the Hokage tower. When I landed in front of the tower exactly a minute later, an ANBU materialized in front of me, and I barely managed to stick enough chakra into my feet to come to a dead stop.

"Basement, one minute," The ANBU stated without inflection then stepped out of my way. I was glad I chose to run to the Hokage tower instead of attempting a shunshin, my shunshin was extremely uncontrolled and not worth the ensuing collisions or the reprimands for using a jutsu forbidden so close to the Hokage tower. I took a deep breath and stepped inside the tower, walking quickly. Once I reached the stairs down, I decided on going down the stairs the shinobi way, since it would take me a good five minutes otherwise. The first three flights were like normal stairs, zig-zagging back and forth. Beyond that, it was a spiral staircase. Angling myself just right, I bounced off the walls and made it down the regular flights before pausing at the top of the spiral staircase.

After a few seconds of deliberation, I jumped up and attached my hands to the ceiling and swung down like I would play on monkey bars. A full-size adult wouldn't have enough room to generate the force necessary to zip down the stairs faster than terminal velocity, at least not without getting their knees scraped off by the stone wall. If it was under any other circumstances, I would have whooped. The adrenaline rush of such a fall was amazing.

Unfortunately, like all falls, controlled or not, they didn't last forever. When I was suddenly flying straight, I swore an alarm and collided with someone. Hard.

Luckily, whomever it was knew I was coming and neither of us went splat.

"I knew you were mad about that sleeping jutsu, but I didn't expect attempted murder,  _smart-aleck_ ," someone wheezed as I took a shaky step back.

"Sorry,  _Danny Boy_ ," I muttered, looking up at the man in front of me. Pale blue hair obscured his face as he doubled over, but I recognized Katō Dan anyways. He made a face at the name

"Well, you're on time at least, so head on into the office, the Hokage is waiting for you." I glanced around the hall to see a much younger and less-creepy looking, though obviously irritated, Orochimaru watching me.

"What? Did one of your experiments go bad or something?" I snapped at him, probably a bit more aggressive than was strictly necessary, though the way his face went completely blank on the turn of a dime made me a little nervous. It was enough proof for me the he was at least partially behind the disappearance of the Uzumaki child from the orphanage, not that I had any way to pursue the lead.

"Kichiro," Dan snapped. "The Hokage wants to see you."

He steered me into a bare room where the Hokage paced impatiently. "You're late!" The man barked and closed the door behind me, leaving Orochimaru and Dan in the hall.

"My little sister is showing obvious signs of PTSD so you can go screw your complaints because I'm pretty sure Minato has the exact same thing and  _no one else can help them_. You're lucky I'm here at all."

"You're needed most on this mission."

"If it wasn't for the fact that people would die if the Hachibi isn't sealed securely, I wouldn't be."

He decided to ignore my disrespect. "I've worked out the details with the Raikage. Since you will be the main component of this mission and the primary operative, I'm putting you in joint leadership of a team. You are to respect their input—"

"I will not, under any circumstances, work with Orochimaru."

The Hokage's gaze sharpened as I crossed my arms defiantly. "Why?"

"You won't believe me or even hear me out if I tell you, nor do I have evidence. Still, I will not work with Orochimaru."

"You and a single Jōnin are not strong enough to control a Jinchuuriki."

"I don't care. I will not work with Orochimaru."

"There are no other Jōnin available with the skill set necessary—"

"I don't care."

The Hokage huffed in frustration. "If not Orochimaru, then name another."

"Sakumo."

"He's out of the village on a mission."

"Kagami."

"Also out of the village."

"Tsunade."

"You're one of our best medics, I can't risk another on this mission as well."

I wracked my brain for names of people I knew from this time. "Um, Uchiha Fugaku."

"That boy is barely a Chuunin, he would be a liability at best considering Kumo's interest in Dōjutsus."

"Inuzuka Jiro."

"Out of the village."

"Shimizu Arata."

"Left the village last night."

"Katō-san's shadow clone."

"Please take this seriously."

"Um, the Nara clan specializes in long-range jutsu like Katō-san, what about one of their Jōnin?"

"Only one of the Nara currently in the village is a ninja and he is currently incapacitated and still a Genin."

"What about one of the other Uchiha?"

"The Uchiha are a clan of frontline fighters, the average time their Jōnin spend in the village during wartime is about ten hours, again, Kumo has invested an interest in Dōjutsus."

"If all of these Jōnin are fighting then who's protecting the village?"

"The ANBU are guarding the walls alongside several Chuunin. Genin conduct patrols, most without a Jōnin leader."

"So you're saying that this village is practically begging to be attacked! No wonder Suna managed to get inside and conduct a torture session!"

"Will you stop rubbing that failure in my face!" He shouted.

"Kushina, and probably Minato as well, are  _mentally ill_  because of that failure. I can help them, I can fix them, and instead, I'm here ending a war and helping to prevent another one from beginning!" I shouted right back. "I could tell anyone with a basic understanding of Fūinjutsu how to use the seal and be back where I should be in less than an hour. If the village is in such a dire strait that every single Jōnin is needed on the lines, then Jiraiya won't be able to stay with them and those two  _children_  are going to be forced to deal with problems that reduce the  _strongest_  of  _adults_  to paranoid, homeless, beggars who can't even take care of themselves!"

"Do you think I want to let them suffer? My own child is in his third surgery right now after being caught in the crossfire of one of my fights! If the comfort of three children are the price, I have to pay it to ensure thousands more children stay alive and healthy and out of another war!" He responded, pacing.

"Minato is a once-in-a-century genius who will probably make full Jōnin before he turns sixteen. Kushina is one of the last Uzumaki in the world, not some spare to replace me if I screw up and die. Your child is  _your child_! Just because we're at war doesn't mean that lives stop to watch!"

He stopped and sat down against the wall opposite me, rubbing his face. "Kichiro-kun, the only person in your generation this village absolutely cannot afford to lose is you. At the same time, you are not a Kage, you are not a leader, and you don't understand the sacrifices that have to be made. As mature, intelligent, and skilled as you are, you are still one of the children you so ardently defend. Inside the village, my son, Minato, and Kushina are safer than they could ever be outside of it, you're leaving the relative security here and refusing the best protection I can offer you."

"The Raikage will honor his agreement."

"No one can promise that."

"If you're looking for reassurance, you won't get it from me," I said kneeling down in the center of the room. "My stance will not change. If there is no other suitable Jōnin, then I will go alone or with Katō-san and trust the Raikage to honor his agreement."

We both stood back up. I kept my eyes focused on the ground as he stopped in front of me. "I hope your trust is well-placed," he murmured, a hand on my head. After a moment, he walked past and opened the door.

"Orochimaru left, he wouldn't explain why," Dan murmured as he entered. "You alright,  _smart-aleck_?" He asked as he caught sight of me and draped an arm around my shoulders.

"I'm fine," I answered, distracted as to why Orochimaru would just leave. Had my comment made him that paranoid?

I quickly refocused my attention as the Hokage explained the mission. Twenty minutes later we stood at the village gates facing the Raikage.

"This is going to be an awkward trip," I muttered, kicking a stone down the path in front of me.

"Then let's start this out right!" Dan chirped, then started to sing while I stared at him incredulously. " _O Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling._ "

What. The. Hell. That was certainly not any Japanese tune and the words were certainly English.


	19. Chapter 19

I made it until noon before I had to say something.

" _You know English,_ " I stated unoriginally, in English. The Raikage sent us a strange look but didn't comment.

" _'Smart aleck' isn't Japanese, kiddo._ "

I gaped at him. Both languages were so ingrained in me, from my own twenty-seven years in my world, and the seven years of Kichiro's memories as well as total immersion for two-and-a-half years.

" _When did you get here?_ "

" _Two-and-a-half years ago. I 'woke up' seconds before the invasion and subsequent destruction of Uzushiogakure began._ "

" _I'm assuming you died just before that, you died in a different world._ "

" _Yes. I stopped some teenager from mugging a kid and he shot me in the back of the head. Certainly not the way I wanted to go. What happened to you?_ "

" _I was helping the search for survivors when one of the aftershocks of the Haiti earthquake hit and the building collapsed on top of me._ "

" _How old were you?_ "

" _Thirteen, I had gone with my father to help with the relief effort the day after the first earthquake hit. I 'woke up', as you say, as an infant, terrified out of my mind for weeks before I caught sight of the Hokage monument and realized where I was. I still had absolutely no idea what was going on, I only ever read the first few chapters of the manga before I left for the relief effort, and there was only one face on the mountain and half of another being carved. So I started over as an orphan with a head start. I chose my old name to go by and made my given name my new surname._ "

My hopes of someone I could pool knowledge with plummeted faster than a paratrooper with a broken parachute.

" _When did you die? How old were you?_ "

" _A bit less than a decade after you. I was twenty-seven._ "

" _Damn, a full adult and then being stuck as a child. That's rough, buddy. You still sane in there?_ " He knocked on my head.

" _Ha, I think so._ "

" _It's not all bad here, kiddo._ "

"Could you please speak normally?" The Raikage grunted.

"Our conversation has absolutely nothing to do with anything you would care about."

"Jinchuuriki or not, I can still crush you, boy, so don't cross me."

"I'll cross whomever I wish, Kage or not."

"Enough, Kichiro, he's not the Hokage."

"He still—"

"Enough."

"Fine."

The rest of the day passed in mindless silence. Travelling at shinobi speeds would get us attacked before Dan would be able to show the mission assignment. At this speed, it would take us nearly a month to get to the border.

As night fell, no one bothered to call for a stop. I didn't need one considering I had the advantage of the Kyuubi supplying energy should I need it and I decided now would be the best time experimenting with breaking down adenosine with chakra. After ten minutes, the Raikage grabbed my shoulder, which made Dan whip out a tantō, only for it to be blocked by the Raikage's Jōnin.

I glared up at the Kage.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, pointing at my forehead.

Taking a step back, I escaped his grip. "Experimenting."

"With what? Why?"

"It's just an Iryo-Ninjutsu technique I'm trying to develop, no reason to get paranoid. It's as boring as an empty library just walking all day and I wanted to take advantage of the fact that we're apparently not stopping for the night and do something useful."

"Make camp," he ordered me.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't take orders from you."

"Treat it as a training exercise, you're still a Genin."

"Chuunin, actually, I'm a Chuunin and have been a Chuunin for several months. I know how to make a damn camp, I've spent enough time on the front lines and infiltrating, so go make your own camp, I sleep in the trees." To prove my point, I bent my knees and leapt upwards, aiming for the tallest branches of the tree that would support my weight, far above where any shinobi would travel. Before I made it ten feet up, Dan stood in my path, glaring.

" _Just because you're physically a child doesn't mean you have to act immaturely._ "

" _I was never a mature adult and since I can't hide my intelligence, I have to act like a child somehow._ "

" _Then at least act like someone has authority over you before you piss off the wrong person and get put down for being a loose cannon._ "

"Is that some verbal Konoha code or something?" The Raikage's Jōnin asked.

"No," Dan answered leaping down. I followed, appearing properly chastised. "And no other questions about it will be answered."

(-_-)

The days passed monotonously. No one spoke unless it was absolutely necessary. I entertained myself with chakra control exercises and learning the basics of fire manipulation. I had a tenuous understanding of wind, earth, and water, even though I knew a total of six actual elemental Ninjutsu, which was a pathetic repertoire for a Chuunin. Iryo-Ninjutsu didn't count, even though I could heal almost anything if I had enough time.

By the time we reached the border, eleven single words and one phrase of expletives had been spoken over the two weeks before. Eight of them had been Dan telling me 'no' when I opened my mouth to ask permission to do something. Three were the Raikage telling me 'stop' when my attempts to learn the basics of fire manipulation without a proper teacher led to bright flashes of light, sharp pops, or a mixture of both. After the third reprimand, the Raikage was fed up with my constant failure and demonstrated how to properly complete the exercise. It only took a few days after that to get it right. At which time I made a show of attempting to practice the basics of lightning when the Raikage nearly gave me a heart attack with an extremely focused burst of killing intent. I switched back to practicing medical ninjutsu after that. At least then, the chakra never left my body and no one could complain.

The expletives came from the Kumo Jōnin who found himself pranked by yours truly. I wanted to prank the Raikage, just to say I did, but every attempt failed via him staring down at me until I dismantled the trap. I was just a Chuunin promoted too quickly, I wasn't sure what got me thinking I could pull one over on a technically-enemy Kage. Dan knew of the Uzumaki penchant for practical jokes and was properly wary. The Kumo Jōnin had not been warned, so when his turn came to take point, I used a shadow clone to set up a prank spider web about a quarter-mile ahead along our projected path during my period on watch. As the camp was packed up, I deliberately dragged my feet to the point where the entire party was quite annoyed with me. The reaction was better than I had anticipated. I expected the flailing, spluttering, maybe a yelp. I did not expect curses and scrubbing and the Jōnin to start beating imaginary bugs.

The Raikage was genuinely amused, if disappointed. My dispersed shadow clone had left residual traces of my chakra in the area and the Jōnin  _should_  have known  _something_  was up. Alas, the arrogant and annoyed fell to me. Dan had the tact not to laugh and I quickly moved on ahead so no one would see my smirk.

(-_-)

The prank may have lightened the atmosphere, but as soon as we reached the point to where Konoha had conquered, the Raikage's hostility towards me in particular shot to new heights, probably because I made it possible for nearly twenty percent of Konoha's fighting force to return to battle while his numbers continued to diminish.

When I 'graduated' from Konoha's medic-nin program, I had silently promised myself that I would help anyone who approached me peacefully. Until we crossed the no-man's land between the two armies, I had only ever met Konoha nin peacefully. When we entered the Kumo camp, one of the first thing I noticed was the tarps set up over the station for the wounded. While the Raikage and Dan spoke with the leader of the camp, I found myself wandering over to the injured, just like I had done for weeks with Sakumo's team. Old habits die hard

Inside, there was slightly more than thirty people. About two-thirds had little chance of a continued career or even survival without the help of a medic-nin. No one stopped me, so I knelt down beside one of the feverish men near the edge. Someone had attempted to gut him, but didn't manage to make the blow immediately lethal. Whatever medic was responsible for the base had sewn his skin back together, but by the look of the shinobi around him, there wasn't a real medic-nin available and they were regulated to field treatment. I could have fixed him up in three minutes, but an unfamiliar infection was impairing his breathing and it took me another ten minutes to fix. I was nearly finished when a giant hand grabbed my arm and tore me away, throwing me onto my back.

"Stay away from our people, bastard leaf-child!" I barely managed to roll out of the way of his kick and blast him backwards with an overpowered version of my wind battering ram. I ducked under a second strike and sucked the second assailant into the ground up to his neck.

"Wind Prison Jutsu!" I cried and caught a third attacker before he could land a punishing blow to my ribs. I didn't even see the Raikage appear behind me and grab my neck, disrupting my focus on the prison. I tried to stab his hand with a wind-strengthened senbon but it shattered when it hit his lightning armor.

"That is not the Ninjutsu of a six-month-old shinobi!" The Raikage roared at Dan, who was crouched defensively, a hand on his kunai pouch and eyes darting to the quickly-assembling ninja.

The Raikage's grip was too strong and too tight for me to suck in even a mouthful of air. The pounding in my ears quickly drowned out the rest of the exchange while I kicked and clawed at him. When my peripheral vision began to darken, he finally dropped me. I landed on all fours, gasping, and making a mental note to figure out how to bypass the actual intake of air with medical Ninjutsu. The chakra burns around my neck were the least of my worries.

"The hell, you people!" I snapped as soon as I was able. "I was just healing the man!"

"Kichiro!" Dan snapped.

I stood up and held a hand glowing with medical Ninjutsu over my throat. The Raikage grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the edge of camp in the direction I assumed Kumo lay.

"We're leaving," he growled.

"I can see that," I muttered back. "But at least a quarter of the men under that tarp will die in the next week if they don't receive proper medical treatment and half of those remaining will never be able to fight again once they recover."

He stopped abruptly. "You never got close enough to determine that."

"No, but I have eyes and I spent five months healing in camps just like this on every front of Konoha's fight. Unless they're deliberately hiding it, I can get an idea of the severity of the injuries by sight. Let me go back and I can promise three-quarters of the men under that tarp will be up and fighting within a week." I'd also get a fairly good idea of the median chakra levels of their fighting force, the standard of the general health of his army, the approximate length of time ninja generally spent at the borders, and if I was a bit invasive in the healing, I could determine their general diets as well, but that wasn't the point and I certainly wasn't going to tell him that. By his expression, he already knew exactly what Konoha medic-nin were capable of and was weighing the risk versus the reward. His urge to do everything in his power to help his comrades won.

"We leave at nightfall. Heal what you can, but know you will run under your own power." He released me and marched off, signaling to the audience.

Dan leaned against the rock wall part of the tarp ceiling was attached to. I glanced around and saw several Kumo nin watching me. A few seemed just curious and were balanced out by several who were obviously hostile. One of those hostiles had the look of a medic. The half-dozen others were either scoffing at me or just curious. Only one stepped underneath the tarp. It was a blue-haired girl, obviously a fresh Genin and a few years younger than Kushina.

"C-can you please fix To-chan, shinobi-san?" She begged and pointed to one of the more critically injured, his mess of blue hair dyed red with blood.

I nodded and let her pull me over to him, hovering by my shoulder, just out of my sight, while I worked on healing him. He had a severe concussion to go alongside the gash from the nape of his neck to his temple. He lost half his ear, but that was the least of his worries. His collarbone was broken in five places, which I wasn't sure how a single bone could have that many breaks, but I just set the bone and urged it along the first sages of healing.

"He has an infant child at home and his wife is dead," a kunoichi pointed at a man a few feet away.

I went to him next. The man was conscious, but barely so. The flesh of his arm was cut to ribbons, infected, from the elbow down and the tourniquet was about to destroy the limb. "Blood type?" I asked, one hand sifting through my medic pouch to pull out a tube with a needle on both ends.

"A-negative," the kunoichi answered.

"Is anyone else the same?" I asked. Eyes glanced around, but no one was willing to step forward. "I can't do squat for him, I'm B-positive and he's A-positive." I jerked a thumb at Dan, who was not happy I knew his blood type and very not happy I announced it to a bunch of potential enemies.

Someone stepped forward and sat down, holding out their arm. Guided by medical chakra, I inserted the needle into one of the medium sized arteries in the donor's forearm and placed a wad of bandages in his hand. Luckily, Kumo nin seemed to have similar basic training in assisting medics as the Jōnin generally taught Konoha Genin teams, and I had taught Minato and Kushina before they graduated.

I swallowed past a lump in my throat and waited as the blood filled the thin tube before inserting it into the vein on the inside of the recipient's upper arm. A volunteer stepped forward to hold the half-dead man down to prevent more damage. I took off the tourniquet and started the healing, putting the torn flesh together like a morbid puzzle and clearing the infection. After five minutes, I ordered them to stop the transfusion, letting them figure it out by themselves. The man's lower arm was about half the size it was before due to fluid loss and losing a fair chunk of muscle, but by the time I finished, he would be able to use it just fine if he stuck to some kind of rehabilitation routine the Kumo medics could figure out. It would leave some impressive scarring that I didn't care about.

The shinobi who donated blood wordlessly pointed at another man with severe lacerations, clumsily stitched up with the same style of needlework as the first ninja I healed.

The next three patients sported severe burns and dehydration.

After that was someone dying of poison.

Two more ninja were on the point of death via exsanguination and I had to begin three more blood transfusions.

Konoha had nearly double the number of battlefield medics than any of the other countries, but the makeshift hospitals were always twice as busy. The payoff was that Konoha's mission survival rate was twice as high, even if the success rate was only average.

Sure, the physical health of the leaf was exemplary, but the mental health care was nearly nonexistent beyond 'you're not going to murder your teammates or yourself so you're fit for duty', just like every other country. I wasn't sure they understood that 'crazy' was an illness, not a choice.

When the sun began to set, I found myself nearly finished and glaring at a man who shoved a kunai into his own shoulder a few minutes before and seemed to expect me to heal him. When I finally made him cringe, I started the healing. It quickly became evident why he injured himself, but it didn't appease me the slightest.

"You know, stabbing yourself makes the original injury ten times more difficult to heal," I informed him as I placed my hands on his shoulder.

At least he had the decency to look slightly sheepish.

"There was no original injury," the Kumo medic spat.

"Well, that's just incompetence on your part," I retorted. "A civilian knows there's something wrong with inflammation."

"Kichiro," Dan warned. I ignored him. I was, to everyone here, nine years old and had just healed several dozen people out of the kindness of my heart. I was allowed to be overtired and snappy, especially after having to deal with crazy stitching, incompetent preliminary treatment, and infections that shouldn't have happened.

The medic bristled, but none of the spectating Kumo nin made any defense, which only made him angrier. "I'd like to see you do better with no supplies."

I winced. " _Bro_ , the only supplies I used was for the transfusions."

"You have no idea—"

"Of what? What it's like to run a medic tent? No I have no idea, but I did spend five months playing travelling war doctor, so I know that regular Chuunin can stitch up their own puncture wounds better than you." Shots fired.

"That's enough," the Raikage interrupted. "It's time to go."

"I'm almost done, hold on," I protested. A minute of the Raikage's impatience later, I pulled my hands away. "I'm tired," I announced, only to have Dan slap the back of my head.

"You made your bed, now lie in it."

The idiom didn't translate very well, but I got the message. On my own, I would have collapsed from exhaustion around midnight, so a few hours after we left the camp, I began to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra. I found out then that the Kyuubi had a bit more pride than I thought. Drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra was one thing. I could probably do so without drawing any significant attention towards myself, besides my eyes turning a bit red.

**_That 'Raikage' is too secure in his own abilities. Crush that security._ **

_What?_

**_That man does not understand the power I wield and I will not be ordered about by the likes of him, even by proxy._ **

_No one ordered anything._

**_I wouldn't expect a small-minded creature like you to understand._ **

_I take offense to that._

The Kyuubi's chakra fluctuated wildly.  ** _Stop and make camp._**

"Shit!" I yelped and nearly crashed to the ground, disoriented. The Kyuubi flooded my body with chakra and burned the bottom of my left foot. "Ow, ow, ow,  _ow_!" I cried trying to slow my momentum while hopping on one foot. Dan, the Raikage, and the four Kumo Jōnin we picked up from camp all stopped and spun around to face me, ready to fight. I continued to hop around swearing while I struggled to take my shoe off to stop the irritation. Finally, I just sat down and the Kyuubi snapped back his chakra, laughing at the silent invectives I heaped on him. The bottom of my foot was disgusting and untouchable.

"Heal it and let's keep moving," the Raikage ordered.

I winced at the Kyuubi's growling and covered my ears, even though it didn't help.

"Raikage-sama, healing chakra burns from another person is a complicated process. Healing chakra burns from tailed beast chakra is doubly so and requires more chakra than I have at the moment. Unless someone volunteers to carry me, I ain't moving."

**_Good, little rat._ **

_I am not your pet!_

He just growled.

"Also, I may be able to control the Kyuubi, but I can only do so with his cooperation. If he wants something as simple as stopping for the rest of the night, I'm damn well going to give it. Now, am I going to hop to a suitable campsite or are you going to show me?"

I expected the Raikage's face to purple or his fists to clench angrily, but he just sighed. "You and you, stay here with him and politely escort him to the place we decided on for the sealing. Everyone else is coming with me to Kumo. I'll retrieve the candidates."

At that, he left.

(-_-)

Four days of easy travel later and being watched at almost all times, I landed in the top of a temple an hour before noon.

"What is this place?" I called down, surveying the surrounding land.

"A temple," one of my escorts grunted. I wished I at least knew their names, but when I had asked, they just ignored me.

"I can see that, but its abandoned and I want to know why."

"Poison," the other explained.

"Why?"

"Traitors."

"You are awful at answering questions. Were they betrayed or did they turn against someone else?"

"Betrayed."

"Can I explore or is it holy ground?"

"Do what you like, but try and find a place suitable for the sealing."

I scowled. "That was the point." After a minute longer of perching at the highest point of the tower, I slid down the sloped roof and swung inside. The place was obviously built for shinobi, the reinforcement seals on the walls gave it away in an instant. I spent a good three hours copying them for Kushina and deciphering them for myself. It wasn't Uzumaki work, which neither of us had much experience with.

Keeping an eye out for writings and more seals, I prowled around the temple until it was too dark to see. I camped separately from the Kumo nin that night. Sometime during that night, the Raikage returned with an entourage of children, which I only saw when I looked down at the camp in the morning. No one called for me, so I finished my exploration before returning to the group.

"About time you showed your face," the Raikage growled at me.

"Yeah, well, unless you want a Bijū rampaging your country then you'll be glad I found a place I can set up the proper security seals the Hokage gave me."

"Took you long enough."

"There was interesting seal-work. I'm not a genius you know, so it took me a while to figure out if it would interfere with my seals. Mind introducing me to the newcomers?" I dismissed his attempt to gain superiority.

He whistled loudly and the kids roughhousing a distance away under a somewhat familiar man's watch ran up and stood in a disturbingly straight line, peering at me curiously. Brand-new hitai-ate glinted in the sunlight and I self-consciously rubbed mine, grungy from lack of care. A Jōnin stood behind the half dozen mini shinobi, his hand on one of their shoulders. They were certainly younger than me, if bigger. Off to the side, Dan sat with another girl, who looked to be barely four, and played patty-cake with her, fascinating the child with the English words.

"Over there is the host of the Nibi," the Raikage explained, quiet enough that the children couldn't hear him. "Have fun travelling with a toddler in wartime. These children are the strongest candidates for the Hachibi."

"Why do I feel like you've already made your decision?"

"I have a preference of which child is chosen, but any are acceptable. The young man behind them is my son, A, and his hand is on his adopted brother, B." The Raikage continued introducing the other children, who were beginning to fidget under my gaze, and still unable to hear our conversation, though I was certain A could hear us just fine.

"May I talk to them or do you expect me to decide on looks alone?"

"Do whatever you need. For once, the rivalry between our villages comes second. I want my people safe."

"Are they all orphans?"

"Yes."

"Figures. Do they know why they're here?"

"No."

"Fine, is there any particular details you want me to avoid telling them?"

"Konoha and Kumo made a pact for peace and one aspect of that pact was Konoha agreed to make a reliable Jinchuuriki seal for the Hachibi and perform the sealing. One of them will be chosen as the next Jinchuuriki. That is all they need to know."

"Do I have your word you won't interfere?"

"Don't kill them."

"Pull your son away from them and put the Jōnin at a perimeter of thirty meters."

"What do you plan on doing?"

"Scaring the living hell out of them. They ought to know what they're signing up for and if they back down from my challenge, they won't be able to control the Hachibi."

"I was told the seal would do all of the work."

"Well, whoever told you that was wrong. I wrote the seal. In about five years, give or take a few months, the willpower of the Jinchuuriki will be what keeps the seal intact. If the Jinchuuriki wants to release the Hachibi, the seal will have no power."

"That's not what I agreed to."

"No, you agreed to Konoha sealing the Hachibi so it won't escape, not so it couldn't be released. If it makes you feel better, the Hokage didn't know about my stipulation. Treat them properly, make everyone else treat them like a human being and you won't have any problems."

"I'm willing to let you make one of my most promising Genin into a monster. You have no right to dictate—"

"The Jinchuuriki are not monsters! We are people with sentient masses of chakra sealed inside of us. There is a very clear distinction. The Kyuubi hasn't changed my DNA, and the Hachibi won't change the DNA of whomever its sealed inside. I am still human. Maybe I don't know firsthand the full implications of being a Jinchuuriki, but I know how most of them are treated, and I will not subject anyone else to that."

The Raikage was not happy. "Do not harm those Genin and I will overlook your insubordination. Your reasons are valid."

"I'll fix them when I'm done and I don't answer to anyone but the Hokage." With a single motion, the Jōnin all leapt away, leaving me in charge of six Genin, all bigger than me, even if they were younger and less experienced. They first fell out of the mostly-attentive lines and moved to flank me, assessing what kind of threat I posed. "Do any of you know what a Jinchuuriki is?" I began conversationally, holding my chin high and closing my eyes.

"A monster," one of the Genin volunteered.

"A demon," another snapped.

"They steal little kids."

"They've destroyed our village several times."

"They're pure evil."

"One killed my parents."

"You're all wrong."

Immediate protests and immature verbal abuse flew towards me. I stood still until it stopped, the kids confused by my lack of retaliation, but not yet willing to escalate things.

"What am I?"

"A Konoha nin," one spat as if it was the worst insult in the world. The others agreed.

"Oh I'm so much more than that you foolish brats. I'm a Jinchuuriki, the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

One of them leapt at me. I backhanded him across the face hard enough to make him hurt, but not cause any serious damage. Completing a full turn, I threw senbon into each of their chests, stopping them dead and giving them each an impressive dose of a hallucinogenic meant to amplify their emotions. Only then did I open my eyes.

"Before you attack me, let me tell you something. By the end of this day, one of you will be chosen to become a Jinchuuriki. The things you described a Jinchuuriki as will be what everyone thinks you will be. How many of you like nice, warm hugs? After, no one will dare touch your hideous body. Your friends will hate you, shun you. The civilians will refuse to sell to you. Parents will hide their kids from you. The worst part will be that you'll still be you, everyone else will turn against you because they simply don't understand."

They stood rooted in their places, terrified. One of them collapsed, crying.

"You're a Konoha ninja! Konoha ninja always lie!" B shouted. I took a step to the side to look him in the eye.

"Am I lying? Check my pulse, it's steady. My breathing is perfectly normal, as are my pupils. I'm not fidgeting or defensive. Tell me, am I lying?" Even if I was lying, I could control my body well enough to fool most jōnin.

"The Raikage—"

"The Raikage has a Bijū to seal. He must make a monster to stop one."

"A hero would never do something so awful!" Another kid shouted at me.

I grabbed the arm of the kid who collapsed. "Look around you. There's at least a dozen Jōnin surrounding us all right now. The Raikage himself is watching. Just watch, they won't do a thing." With a sharp jerk, I bent the kid's elbow the wrong way until the bone snapped. The kid screamed. I knocked him unconscious the second my point was clear. Two of the kids turned tail and ran, leaving three of them about to attack me. I pulled on the Kyuubi's chakra and let the weight of it wash over them, studying their reactions. One collapsed from the pressure leaving only B and another Genin standing, their clothes smoking slightly and swaying in the spot. "You're pathetic, you know that?" I sucker-punched B in the face. "There was six of you and only two of you are left."

"Let's get him, Motoi!" B snarled and the two leapt at me together. I knew in a test of brute strength against them I would lose, chakra enhancement or not. When both of them stepped forward, I managed to catch them both in a Genjutsu that had them fighting a fake me. With a bit of skill and concentration, I made it so they both thought the not-me had knocked out the other and the not-me shouted constant taunts and insults at them. To the Jōnin, they probably looked like absolute fools fighting nothing while I worked on healing the kid whose arm I broke. It was stretching my concentration thin, but I managed and finished healing slightly before either boy made progress against the not-me. Motoi managed to take down the not-me first with an unexpected jutsu. I kept everything at their level, otherwise he never would have succeeded. I watched as he had the not-me completely at his mercy.

"You're a monster murderer who only deserves death!" He snarled and stabbed a kunai through my head.

"That was disturbing," I commented, releasing the Genjutsu on him. "You fail." I caught his subsequent punch with one hand and knocked him out with medical ninjutsu. When he hit the ground, I shook out my hand. "Little brat hits hard," I commented to myself and turned to where B was still fighting the not-me.

With a clever twist of his dual swords against my sticks as well as a very sneaky trip I probably would have fallen for if it was a real fight, he sent the not-me tumbling to its back.

"You're here for a reason. Why? Why aren't the jōnin doing anything about this fight? They could crush you in seconds but they're letting me fight. I'm not stupid, I recognize you from the Bingo book, Uzumaki Kichiro. What are you doing in Kumo and how did you get the Raikage's permission?"

I didn't answer.

"You were playing with me. You're a much better fighter than what you showed, you lost because you wanted to. Why? What do you want?"

I stayed quiet.

"Fine, then take your secrets with you, you're not worth my time." He knocked out the not-me with a well-aimed punch. I dissolved the Genjutsu.

"Good job, B-san. You passed the test."

He whirled around in surprise. "Test?"

"Yep."

"Kai!" He shouted, but there was no Genjutsu to dispel.

"You were right in thinking I was playing with you, but don't feel bad, I was promoted to Chuunin before I finished my first mission, which brought me straight to the war front and earned me a fancy moniker. I'm here because I'm an Uzumaki and a Jinchuuriki with the skill to seal the Hachibi as part of the peace deal with your village."

"What kind of test was that?" He demanded. "What was the purpose?"

"To see if you had the qualities to not go crazy when you become the Hachibi Jinchuuriki."

"What qualities?"

"Mercy, forgiveness, and maturity are the main ones."

"You tempted me to kill you?"

"It was just a Genjutsu," I shrugged. "And you didn't, so we're cool."

"I don't get it."

"It's alright, brother," A appeared at B's back. The Raikage followed with a large amber jar under his arm.

"When will you be ready to conduct the sealing?" The Raikage asked.

I scowled up at him. "You could just say you want me gone as soon as possible. Before any sealing is done, I need to talk to B."

He thrust the jar at me as well as a scroll. I took them warily. "The Hachibi is sealed in the jar and the scroll has instructions on how to slowly release him. At the end of the scroll is a seal. Activate it when you're finished with the sealing. Until then, the two of you will be the only individuals within ten kilometers, for safety reasons. I don't want to see your face again until you are finished."

B quickly turned to his adopted brother, alarmed. The two conversed quietly while the Jōnin picked up the other Genin and left. I exchanged a glance with Dan, who nodded once before turning and leaving with everyone else. The Raikage leapt away, and after a moment, A followed, leaving us alone.

Turning towards me, B lifted his chin, resolved.

"You don't have to look tough for me, kid, I don't give a damn."

"You're littler than me!" He protested.

"Yeah, sure, you're still younger. Come on, let's go inside to talk, there's some things I have to tell you."


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At reader's request, there is a self-harm trigger warning for the second half of this chapter.

B followed me into the heart of the temple, his head down. I closed the door and set up Kushina's system of privacy seals from my bag that I left in the room once I determined I would use it.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I don't want anyone listening, at least not until you decide you want to share what I tell you with someone."

"What are you talking about? You're crazy."

"I'm not crazy. Sit down." I took a seat on the floor in the center of the room. Warily, B sat down across from me. Slowly and deliberately, I took off my hitai-ate and stripped off my gloves, showing him the dark seals on my skin. He stared at them without comprehension. "These seals are part of the Shitagau, which is a seal that makes its victim incapable of lying to, directly disobeying, and betraying the person who wields it, at least, not without significant harm to themselves. I'll come back to this." I slowly pulled my gloves back on, but left my grungy hitai-ate balanced on my knee. "The day I became a Genin, someone kidnapped my sister. Uzumaki chakra is exceptionally compatible with sealing as well as perfectly suited to safely contain even the most powerful of the Bijū, which makes the Uzumaki perfect candidates for becoming Jinchuuriki. They kidnapped my sister with the intent of turning her into a Jinchuuriki, but we stopped it. When we returned to the village, the Hokage and the previous Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, who was getting old, decided it was time to pass on the mantle."

"Why do I care about how you became a Jinchuuriki?" B grumbled. "Isn't it supposed to be a village secret?"

"Ha, you don't need to care about my story, but you still need to know it. Anyways, they wanted to pass the Kyuubi on to my sister. She was an all-around better candidate: impressionable, obedient, and eager to please, plus she had a far better understanding of sealing than me. I was a less-than-desirable candidate, to put it nicely. I was an antagonistic, hard-headed, devil-may-care, insubordinate child who was far too smart and perceptive for my own good. I wouldn't let them turn my sister into someone scorned and detested by the general populace. For some reason, they let that opinion stand and sealed the Kyuubi into me that evening. They also placed the Shitagau, which basically makes me a slave to the Hokage."

"Again, why do I care about your sob story?"

"It's a warning. Becoming a Jinchuuriki means you'll have access to power and lots of it. That makes people greedy. No matter how honorable the intentions are, you will be used and potentially abused. Most people will see you as less than human, feral. I've done what I could to make sure the Raikage treats you like a person, or at the very least as a regular shinobi, albeit with a special skill set, but that will only go so far. Your life is going to be hard, an upwards battle for positive attention. You must understand that and consent to it before I will perform the sealing."

"I have my brother. He'll make sure that—"

"Your brother is set to be the next Raikage. As much as he may want to, he can't shield you from most of it. He can't stop your friends from pulling away."

B shifted uncomfortably. "Motoi would never do that."

"No, B, he would in a heartbeat, everyone would. The Hachibi killed his father; his father died because a Jinchuuriki lost control. Maybe he'll come around eventually, but you're going to be hated until you prove to everyone you can be trusted, which won't happen for a long time. Just your existence means you're a threat."

"You're wrong."

"I wish I was. Now, are you willing to go through with the sealing or should I call the Raikage back and have him find a new set of candidates."

"How old are you?"

"Nine."

"You talk like an adult."

"I've spent the last two years of my life with adults, it makes sense I'll start to sound like them."

"You're nine and you say you can seal a Bijū? How strong are you?"

"Sealing a Bijū is a lot different than fighting one. I'm an Uzumaki, so sealing is in my blood, but I'm nowhere near the level I need to be in order to fight one. You said you recognized me from the Bingo book so I'm sure you know who Hatake Sakumo and Senju Tsunade are. I made my way through Tsunade's medic program in half the time it takes adult medics and Hatake is my Jōnin-sensei, he's been training me since I was seven."

"You give out information easily. You know that can be used against you."

"Trust me, if you think anyone can catch Hatake without getting their hands chopped off, they're welcome to try. As for my sister, keep an eye on what happens to Suna over the course of this war and you'll get an idea about what happens to someone who threatens children of Konoha."

"You're not a very nice person."

"I'm not, at least not anymore." I pulled out the scroll with my seal on it. "I'll ask again, are you willing to go through with the sealing."

"Why did you pick me?"

"You didn't take revenge for my insults, you didn't let them really bother you. You're strong and you have someone to take care of you. You also didn't collapse under the Kyuubi's chakra. Any more questions?"

"Will it hurt?"

"Probably, but it won't cause any lasting damage."

"I don't—" he broke off.

"If you don't want to do this, I won't seal the Hachibi inside of you, no one can make me."

"You said the Shitagau—"

"The Hokage left the choice of who completely up to me and the Raikage can't order me around."

"He'll hurt you—"

"Then I transform into the Kyuubi and devastate his village."

The boy gaped at me.

"Unlike most Jinchuuriki, a full, voluntary transformation probably won't hurt me. If it does, fine, I'm free to head to the afterlife."

"You're insane."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"I will not be a part of this immaturity. Do you want time to think?"

"I-I agree." He bit his lip uncertainly.

"Becoming a Jinchuuriki is not part of the contract you signed when you became a shinobi, so it's not your duty to do this. You are accepting of your own free will, nothing your brother or the Raikage says should tip your decision either way, you understand that, right?"

After a moment of thought, B nodded.

"Once you become the Jinchuuriki, you understand that you will be taking on the responsibility of guarding everyone around you from the rampage of the tailed beast sealed inside of you."

He nodded again.

"Fine." I pulled out a scroll from one of my pockets and held it up. "This is a complete explanation of the seal I'm going to use. One of the most important points for you to remember is that the seal only works as long as you want it to. Secondly, the Hachibi is not a mindless force of nature. He is intelligent and has emotions just like you. He's spent a long time going through a cycle of imprisonment, subjugation, and brief moments of freedom. He's bitter and angry about it, just like anyone would be if they spent more than a lifetime as a prisoner. The Hachibi is immensely powerful, you'll be able to feel that power through the seal. I'll warn you once. Do not try and use it without the Hachibi's consent. Finally, if you ever need help, I'll do what I can to help you, just find me, okay? Just because we're from different villages doesn't prevent us from being brothers by circumstance. I'll always help out a family member."

I let it sink in while I stood and added the Bijū-suppressing seals from the Hokage to the walls of the room. B watched me carefully even when I stopped to do nothing more than read the Raikage's instructions.

"I'm ready," I finally announced, pulling out my sealing kit.

B nodded and I felt like I was talking to a bobble head.

"Take your shirt off and lie down."

He obeyed and I started to paint the seal onto his stomach.

Four horribly tedious hours later I finished.

"This is your absolute last chance to back out, are you sure you want to go through with this?" I asked.

"Absolutely," B said with more conviction than ever before. I winced as the Kyuubi's chakra bubbled over my skin.

 ** _Just to be safe,_** he explained.

With one hand, I unlocked the jar with the Hachibi inside. His chakra filled the room and would have knocked me out if the Kyuubi hadn't been filtering it.

 **Kyuubi!**  The Hachibi snarled.  **How dare you manipulate your host like this!**

I activated the seal and the Hachibi's chakra started to drain into it. B screamed in pain as the Bijū chakra rushed through his body.

It was unnerving to have my mouth moving without my consent, but I let the Kyuubi say his piece.  **You are angry and impulsive, just as I was. Until your mind clears, and you are able to help me in my quest, you will remain sealed.**

**Who are you to decide that? You have no authority—**

**When you understand, you know where you can speak with me.** I gasped as the Kyuubi's chakra receded and the last of the Hachibi was pulled inside of the seal. After taking a minute to control myself, I turned to B, who lay curled on his side and facing away from me.

"You alright?" I asked him.

"Give me a minute."

I fell backwards, my arms spread, and more exhausted than I expected. "Can I call the Raikage here or do you want time to yourself?"

"Time to myself."

I struggled to my feet. "Come find me when you're ready." I deactivated the seals around the room and left with my bag and supplies.

"Wait!" B called after me. I stopped, but didn't go back. "You can call Raikage-sama."

"Okay. When you come out, bring that jar with you."

(-_-)

Just before the sun finished setting, The Raikage landed on the steps of the temple.

"Where's B," he demanded.

"In the temple, center room. May I go home now?"

"Wait here."

I waited, watching the sun creep towards the horizon. A few minutes later, the Raikage returned, holding B's hand and carrying the jar.

"Your teammate and the Nibi are straight in that direction," he pointed back towards Konoha. "Kumo thanks you for your services."

"You're welcome, goodbye."

"Wait!" B said as I took a step away.

I stopped.

"I can still see you if I need something, right?"

"Of course, goodbye, B-san."

"Goodbye, Kichiro-sama."

I leapt forward and ran in the direction the Raikage pointed. It only took me a few minutes to reach Dan, who was accompanied by a team of Kumo Jōnin and had the Nibi Jinchuuriki hanging around his neck, asleep.

"We need to get back to Konoha  _ASAP_."

" _A child can't travel at shinobi speeds, Kichiro._ "

" _Then let me go! I did my job; I even have the trust of the Eight-tails host. Minato and Kushina need me most right now._ "

" _Once we get to the border, you can run straight back._ "

" _If you let me carry her, we can move top speed, no risk to the child._ "

"Kichiro—"

" _Please!_ "

"Fine." He handed me the sleeping girl. "We're ready to go, we can move at top speed."

I slipped off my haori and wrapped it around the girl so she wouldn't freeze at the speeds we would be moving and secured her head against my shoulder so she wouldn't be dangerously shaken. After two days and nights, we reached the Kumo border. As soon as we made it passed Konoha lines and left the Jōnin escort behind, I handed the Nibi Jinchuuriki back to Dan and took off towards the village, sustaining myself with the Kyuubi's chakra. No one tried to stop me, and I only slept twice. When I landed in front of the village gates, no one stopped me as I marched into the village, but out of nowhere, the Hokage appeared beside me.

"Am I right in assuming you had no intention of reporting?"

I bent my knees to jump away from him, but he laid a hand on my shoulder.

"Status of the mission."

"Successful."

"Minato and Kushina have been put under house arrest as a precaution until you clear them, they're not allowed to interact with civilians. They're at Minato's apartment, since it's in a shinobi-heavy area, unlike yours."

"Where's Jiraiya?"

"You have three weeks of leave. Take it before I change my mind and have your written report for the mission turned in by the end of this week, no need to report to the hospital."

I took a step back and dashed to Minato's apartment. As I raised my hand to knock, the last time I saw them flashed across my mind. I felt more than awful for leaving them and fully expected at least one of them to shoot out harsh words.

I knocked twice. I could hear familiar voices inside, but didn't listen in on the conversation. I slouched, but stayed in full view of the little fisheye lens in the door.

"Come in, Nii-san!" Minato called out.

Warily, I opened the door. To my surprise, it wasn't locked, though there was a nasty explosion seal inked onto the floor, which I stepped over, swinging the door closed behind me.

I scanned the hall in front of me. "Hello?" I asked, cautious as I slipped off my shoes.

"In the main room," Minato said, he sounded off. As I stepped around the corner, I barely managed to block a bare foot from taking off my head. I expected an angry confrontation, not a trap.

With a yelp, I jerked backwards, only to have a thin hand appear out of nowhere and press a crinkle of paper against my back, then activate a seal before I could twist away. Lightning coursed through my body and I screamed, collapsing.

When I finally regained my bearings, my hands were tied above my head and I was lying on Minato's bed with both him and Kushina sprawled on top of me, half-asleep. I obviously lost more time than I thought, considering I was already sweating underneath them and my hands had gone numb. I jerked experimentally on whatever bound my hands to the metal bar across the headboard and received bullets of pain up my arms for my troubles. I could have gotten out of regular rope just fine, but they had used ninja wire, which had enough tensile strength to lift an entire city, or so I was told. The point was that the thin wire would cut through my wrists rather than break, and it was wrapped around several times.

I tried to channel chakra to my senses to do a security sweep, but they had sealed away my chakra, which was impressive, considering they would have had to deal with Bijū chakra as well. By that point, I could tell that both of them were now fully awake. Kushina fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. Belatedly, I realized my Chuunin vest and gear was missing. I couldn't see their faces, but I could feel their hands start trading signs over my stomach. To my frustration, I couldn't see anything and my paltry sensing abilities were shot. Deep in my gut, I could feel the Kyuubi, but the sealing made communication impossible. I took a deep breath.

"Can we talk?" I asked softly, wriggling my fingers attempting to reestablish a little bit of blood flow.

"No," Kushina mumbled.

"Okay, why?"

Minato's fist slammed into my gut without warning. My breath left in a choked huff and it took me over a minute to regain because both sets of arms tightened around my middle.

"Why am I tied up?" I asked instead.

That earned me a rather malicious pinch from Kushina. I probably deserved to be stuck as a living pillow, but it didn't mean I should have to worry about my hands dying. I gritted my teeth and started to kick myself upright against the headboard, but I couldn't gain enough leverage to overcome the friction keeping me prone. After a few seconds of struggling, two sets of legs locked around my own. I took a moment to wonder how in the nine circles of hell I made it into this particular position, suffocating under two children.

"Can you please untie me?"

Both of them were forgiving people, so I could understand the clinginess, even if it made me feel sick with myself. What didn't make sense was the fact that I was tied up. I could feel them sharing a look, even though I couldn't see their expressions.

"Do you want me to beg?"

"No," one of them responded, I couldn't tell who.

"Okay, then why am I tied up?"

No answer.

"I can't do anything or fix anything if you don't even talk to me."

Their arms tightened to the point I could barely breathe. I wasn't claustrophobic, but claustrophobia was beginning to set in.

"I love you both, but I can't read your minds and I don't know what to do." The last part was wheezed out.

Their grip tightened further. I could only take the shallowest of breaths and the fact that my arms were above my head further restricted my breathing. I started to scrabble at the wire around my wrists. No matter their age, they were ninja and there was a very real possibility they could unintentionally kill me at this point. It was a testament to their skill that even if I dislocated my thumb I wouldn't be able to get out of the wire without losing a hand, or at least several fingers.

When the edges of my vision began to darken, I started to panic. "Unless you're actually trying to kill me, you need to let go, now!" For a moment, I thought they wouldn't, but after a second, they both jerked away. I wheezed in a breath as Minato cut my wrists free. Rolling onto my stomach, I coughed, struggling to draw in oxygen, my ribs aching.

"Nii-san? Nii-san!" The two Genin cried as I slumped facedown onto the sheets.

"I'll be fine, just give me a minute," I assured them, still wheezing and especially lightheaded. I wished I still had my adult body, which would have probably been fine with the abuse and found a new respect for parents with shinobi children.

The moment I sat up, both of them lunged at me and slammed me back against the wall. I groaned. Had I been able to reinforce my body with chakra, the rough treatment wouldn't have bothered me, but my body just wasn't that tough on its own. I hugged them back anyways.

Kushina all but filled my lap and Minato wedged half his body into the gap between my back and the wall, his face buried in my neck. "You have to talk to me, you two. Why'd you jump me when I got here?" I asked, still breathless. "I'm not angry or upset, I just want to know why."

Their arms tightened around me in answer.

"Gentle, please be gentle!" I begged and they loosened their grip. Tears started to dampen my shirt. "I want to help the two of you, you both need help, but I can't if you don't talk to me."

I still didn't get a response. I sighed and laid my head back against the wall, closing my eyes. Normally, Kushina was all too willing to talk. Without her commentary, it felt strange. Eventually, I started to nod off in the silence, only to jolt awake when Kushina shifted then flinched, pulling her arm towards her chest. Before she could tuck it away, I grabbed her wrist.

Her fingernails were coated with dried blood. By itself, it was fairly normal. All but the most meticulous of ninja had a perpetual crescent of red under their nails. Mine was especially prominent, considering I had killed and cleaned a small rabbit the night before as a small meal and only washed my hands in a stream after the blood was mostly dried by the building of a small fire.

Kushina, though, had no reason for blood under her nails. Minato's wounds should have closed ages ago, so even if she was helping Minato clean them, they shouldn't have been bleeding and the blood should have washed out by now. She tried to pull her hand away, but I held tight. She had sleeves on, which was uncharacteristic, but she was also wearing Minato's clothes, which was somewhat normal, especially considering she had probably spent several nights, at least, at his apartment.

Before she could protest, I shoved up her sleeve to reveal a half-hearted attempt at bandaging several cuts across the inside of her forearms. Minato started to pull his arm away from me, but I grabbed his wrist as well and shove up his sleeve to find similar marks, as well as blood under his fingernails.

"Am I right in assuming these were self-inflicted?" I demanded, releasing them.

After a moment, Minato nodded. I laid my head on his and tightened my arm encircling Kushina.

Taking a deep breath, I struggled to slow my heart rate. "Have you cleaned them?" I asked.

Minato shook his head.

I thought for a moment. "Have you cleaned yourselves?"

Another negative.

"Okay then, let's do that now."

Kushina shook her head emphatically.

"Alright, why not?"

"No water."

"It's not going to hurt you."

"Promise?" Minato demanded.

"Promise."

Kushina's legs locked around my waist as I scooted over the bed, Minato following closely, his hands clutching my waistband. Carrying Kushina was difficult without chakra, but I managed. I was also taking a risk by letting them keep my chakra sealed away, because if one of them freaked and hit me at full strength before I could dodge, I could be seriously hurt. Even so, the fact that they both knew they could easily overpower me probably helped keep them calm.

In the bathroom, it was a bit cramped as I turned on the water and partway filled the tub.

"Minato, you first." I sat Kushina down on the counter beside the sink and held out a hand to the blond. Cautiously, he took it and I guided him, fully dressed, to the tub and sat him down on the edge then swung his feet inside. I washed them gently with a small towel while his fingers tangled into my hair. "See, it's not going to hurt you." I pulled away and untangled his fingers. "I'm going to wait right outside the door—"

"No!" He protested. I flinched back at his vehemence and hit the wall just as he threw himself at me and knocked me to the ground. My head cracked against the hard floor. I didn't think I blacked out, which was a plus, but I almost wished I had in light of the instant splitting headache.

I groaned and looked down at my hand. It trembled and my vision was blurry. Not good. I definitely had a concussion. Even if I had access to my chakra, I would never screw with my own head.

"I hurt Nii-san," Minato whined from somewhere to my right, horrified.

Shit. Stupid child body. Instead of helping Minato, making up for my absence, I probably just alienated him. I pushed myself upright and looked in the direction of his voice, only to see the cupboard under the sink slam shut.

I tried to reach out to him but if it wasn't for Kushina, I would have face-planted. I leaned heavily against her to get to a point where I could sit down beside where Minato disappeared. I tried to open it, but Minato held it shut. "Please come out, Minato, I'll be fine."

A choked sob answered me.

"It was just an accident, Minato, please come out."

No answer.

"Please, Minato," I begged. After a second of silence, I tried the door but it was still stuck. "Minato! Open up, please!" I started to panic. He may have grown into a powerful, level-headed Kage in the future, but at the moment, he was an impulsive child on a self-destructive spiral, locked away, alone, and armed with more stress and misplaced guilt than any child had a right to. "Minato, say something, please!"

Because of my physical age, training could only do so much for my body strength-wise. Without chakra, I was on par with a civilian adult's strength at best. Minato lived in a shinobi complex and because of that, everything in the house had basic strengthening seals so an impromptu wrestling match didn't unintentionally destroy the entire complex and a moment of frustration didn't result in a maintenance bill. I still initiated a wrestling match for the door. It opened slightly and I wedged my fingers in the gap, hissing as the door closed on them. After a second, Minato let go and I flung the door open. My fears weren't completely unfounded as the boy started to slash at his arm. I reached into my pocket, which the seal inside thankfully hadn't been emptied, and pulled out one of the few senbon I kept in it and threw it through Minato's wrist, pinning his arm to the wall behind him. He dropped the kunai with a choked cry and I caught it, tossing it away from him before he managed to wrench the senbon out of his wrist. I yanked him out of the cupboard and wrestled him to the ground.

I sent brief thanks to Sakumo for teaching me how to wrestle against someone stronger and dove into the struggle. Minato tried to run, but I had more than six inches and at least twenty pounds on him as well as more experience. Superior strength wasn't going to get him far without a clear head to go along with it. Mindful of the still-healing wounds on his chest, I managed to flip him on his back, pinning one of his own arms beneath him and pressing my thumb against the hole in his other wrist as he prepared to throw me off.

"Minato, calm down," I ordered. He tried to throw me off, but I had wedged my shoulder underneath the counter of the sink. He may have had double the raw strength to work with, but I had all the leverage and the cool counter against my cheek felt heavenly considering I was struggling against a fit of lightheadedness. "Minato, I'm not screwing around right now, you have to calm down. You're not in your right head and I need you to promise me you're not going to ever do something rash like that ever again. Promise me, Minato, please."

"Nii-san—"

"Please, Minato. Promise me you'll never scare me like that again."

"I hurt you—"

"It doesn't matter! It was an accident." I responded. If he struggled now, I wouldn't be able to hold him down. "Please, Minato, promise me that you won't ever try and hurt yourself again."

"I-I promise." I let out a relieved sigh and slipped into unconsciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> New chapter every week! I hope ya'll enjoy and don't forget to leave a comment with what you think!


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